


Catch me if you can

by Little_Sarafina



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avenger Loki, BAMF Wanda Maximoff, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Clint is a cool dad or more like a cool uncle, Domestic Avengers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Jotunn Loki (Marvel), Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, More tags to be added, Mutant Powers, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, OC has powers, OCs - Freeform, Pietro Lives!, Protective Bucky Barnes, Sarcasm, Sassy OC, a bit of X men, actually he just follows his brother, new avenger, please read safely
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2018-05-05 06:41:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 54,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5365187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Sarafina/pseuds/Little_Sarafina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Winter Soldier/James "Bucky" Barnes x Mutant!OC.<br/>The Avengers are tracking Hydra down and spend all their time taking down Hydra bases. But a young woman irrupts in their lives in the most unexpected way. None was prepared for that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Take-off: 20 min

In the sunny lab in the silence of the work, Tony’s eyes lit up and his lips split up in a smile.

“Guys I think I’ve got something” he said over his holographic screens.”JARVIS you’re the best.”

The World’s Mightiest Heroes have been chasing down all the HYDRA bases known (and remembered) by Bucky, based on his information on the topic. They were now all in the lab, reading piles of files, selecting and sorting information from photographs and low quality camera videos. Each one had something to do. Even JARVIS had been browsing data base on SHIELD and HYDRA activity on the continent.

“What did you find?” Natasha asked looking up from a Russian record. Everybody stopped right away and stared at Tony with an intrigued glaze.

“Well don’t look at me like I had sauce on my face! Just come and see. JARVIS found something.” Tony proclaimed rolling his eyes and pointing at a spot on the screen.

“The last time you said you’ve got something you showed us sales on your favorite clothes store” Thor explained.

“Yeah right like you couldn’t offer those clothes anyway” Loki snorted from a corner of the room. He wasn’t helping them, well because being forced to stick with his brother didn’t mean being helpful so he was reading Shakespeare on a sofa. Nobody brings attention to his comment and approached the holographic screen anyway, to have a better look at the map Tony was showing.

“So that’s where they’re hiding?” Sam asked his gaze lingered on the zoomed location before passing it to Steve.

“All the sources seem to lead there” Steve answered his eyes still on the map “and it’s our best guess so far.” He turned towards Tony who has started playing with some wire and added “Good job Tony”.

Tony shrugged as to say it has been easy for him to find a HYDRA cell even if JARVIS helped a lot and the team thought about this new mission for a moment.

“So Philadelphia, Pennsylvania it is then.” Clint finally declared.”What’s the plan Cap?”

“Now that we know their location we must act. There’s no need to wait.”Steve said looking at the team “Prepare yourselves and suit up we’re leaving in 20min.”

The team nodded silently. “I don’t think the Hulk and the twins are needed though” Steve added to the scientist and the mutants.

“Yeah no need to unleash the green muscle ball” Tony said heading towards the room “no offence Bruce I told you I loved the way you lose control and smashed stuff.”

“None taken Tony” replied the doctor calmly “I think I’m gonna stay here and wait for you guys.” Saying that he grabbed some chemical equipment and started working on it. The twins wished them good luck and left the team in silence. As the Avengers were leaving the room Tony clapped his hands together once, firmly.

”Okay JARVIS prepare the jet to take-off in 20 min.” “Yes sir.”

 ~

 

In the dark HYDRA cell, the doctors were bearing wicked smiles and were congratulating one another. A few months ago they had found a matter of rejoicing. Through the tinted glass they were observing their rare gem: a young and powerful woman all chained up on a chair, looking miserable in the gloomy cell. She was about to give up the fight. They were about to finally break her. And what incredible things they could make her do.


	2. unexpected encounter

“Thor, Stark and Sam you hold yourselves at three miles out, while Bucky, Nat, Clint and I slip in close.  The three of us will engage the enemy and the rest of you can come in once the fireworks are started. But don’t forget to collect data and search everywhere for any clue or information that could help us tracking them down. Any question? Good. Dismiss.” Steve was in Cap mode and everyone needed to focus.

Snick in the cell had been easy thanks to the super-trained assassins. The Black Widow had knocked out the guards with her widow bites while Bucky silently stabbed the rest. Now they had triggered the alarm and reinforcements were about to come.

“Thor, Stark, Sam, take the first floor, we’re going underground. When you’re done, join us.” Steve said on the mic.

“Wow there’s a ton of HYDRA goons in there” Barton said shooting an arrow on a guy’s head. “It’s quite unusual don’t you think?”

“They had to be protecting something down this complex I guess” Bucky replied using his bionic arm to crush some throats on the way underground.

The men were charging in mass. The sounds of combats became steadier and louder as they progressed through the complex. Blasting and explosions could be heard above them, meaning that Stark used his tank missiles generously and Thor’s thunder was being efficient.

They arrived in a long corridor with plenty of half barred doors on both sides. Doctors were running everywhere, trying to escape through a rain of bullets.

“No one must be left alive!” Bucky shouted. He started taking the scientists down one by one with this rage he got when he was fighting his ex-tyrants. This border line crazy-and-scary-as-shit look was all his opponent had the chance to see before their death.

“Look inside those cells there could be someone” Nat said opening the doors on one side “Clint, take the right!”

“Got it” Barton replied. He started looking inside the cells when the rest of the team joined in the underground battle. Stark was blasting all the doors but all of the cells were empty.

“You know I think there’s nobody left in those cells” he said finishing the right side. There were only a few HYDRA left by now and Falcon and Thor were taking care of them. Clint went to collect info in his flash drive on the HYDRA data base.

“We still have to look at these last ones.” said Steve somewhere on his left. He was fighting with a bunch of high trained guys but a few shield punches will beat the shit out of them.

“Right.”

Natasha and Bucky opened the last door and stayed petrified on the sight of what it has inside. The girl in the cell was surrounded by various equipments allowed for “scientific measurements”. She had pale skin, messed plunging square hair and behind her bangs, her eyes were large. She was chained to a chair and her cuffs were badly bruising her bloody wrists and she was wearing a torn and dirty white prisoner outfit with a rank number on it. But what shocked the soviet assassins the most is the torn sleeves with electrodes and longs cuts on both of her arms. When she heard her door cell open she looked up, prepared to see the wicked scientists. But instead she found two strangers staring at her mouth dropped. She redressed herself and fixed them with an anxious look. They were here to hurt her, they had weapons, and she wasn’t strong enough to give a fight anymore.

“Oh God…”Natasha started “guys we need you here it’s an emergency!”

Bucky drew closer in the cell approaching the girl. “We gotta get her out of here.” He held his hands to break her cuffs. Thinking he was about to hit her, the girl winced and tried to hit him with her foot.

“Hey calm down we’re here to rescue you!”Bucky said easily dodging her bare foot. At his words the girl’s green eyes widened. She let him break her cuffs and as soon as she had been freed she got on her feet but she winced in pain and passed out. Bucky caught her before she hurt herself on the floor. He lifted her up in his arms and realized how light and weak she was. She had been surely underfed and he could see red marks on her arms that were continuing under her shirt. He didn’t know why these marks were here for but he could say that she had been experienced on. Despite her bruises her features were beautiful.

The rest of the team arrived as he turned towards the door. “Some HYDRA agents managed to excape-“Thor tried to say but they hardly heard him because Tony was shouting “If you called us because Frosty’s gone mad again I’m gonna- _oh!_ “. Stark and the others stared in awe at what Bucky was holding tight in his arms.

“I didn’t go mad” Bucky said darkly, setting his eyes on the young woman he was holding.

“Man look at what they did to her…” Sam said approaching and checking her pulse. It was weak but still here.

“They scarred the poor girl’s arms…how savagery” Steve murmured. Natasha said nothing, keeping her face composed but her angry eyes were betraying her inner rage. Instead, she put her ginger hair away from her face. "Better that way." she murmured before stepping back.

“We need to bring her back at the Tower right now if she wants to have a chance to live.”Clint said worriedly. She looked like she was sleeping but her wrists bled over the floor as she shivered.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
> This is my first fanfic ever. My english isn't that good so i'm sorry if anything is a bit off! I posted 2 chapters the same day to get to the point: the encounter between the OC and the Avengers.  
> Please leave kudos and comments to let me know if you liked it or not, what could be improved,...any feedback would be great (but be kind :) ).  
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> And of course i do not own anything, all belongs to Marvel except for Lucy (and my mistakes).


	3. Morning surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She wakes up in an unfamiliar place while The Avengers are taking breakfast. Unexpected morning for both sides!

_Ouch_. Everything hurt. She awoke in an unfamiliar room and in an unfamiliar bed. _Bed_. She closed her eyes and smiled. It’s been so long since she lay on an actual mattress instead of a simple blanket on the floor. Eventually a tear of joy spilled down her cheek. _But what happened? Where I am?_

Then images began flooding back. The smirks on HYDRA doctors faces. The pain. The dark cell. The bruising cuffs as she tried to escape. Then the explosions above her and the screaming. The cell’s door opening, reveling two strangers. A woman and a tall man. This man had approached her and told her they were there to rescue her. _Is that really what happened?_

She opened her eyes and looked at her wrists. They had clean white bandages on them. And they were hurting. _I really shouldn’t have pull on these cuffs this hard_. She sat up and looked around. She had a black satin pajamas and she was happy to see it has replaced her horrible outfit. She was feeling anxious but she couldn’t help the curiosity taking over her. She was in a large bedroom with a TV on a wall next to a door that should probably lead to the bathroom. On her left, there was a huge bay window overlooking… _New-York?_ It was still night.And then she realized that she hadn’t electrodes or anything sticking to her arms anymore, expect for the bandages that looked like white sleeves. She stretched her arms on both sides and then in front of her.

And she actually laughed. It wasn’t a raspy laugh that usually turns into coughing because of the long non-use but it was a lovely and mellifluous laugh that revealed pure freedom and joy. She swung her legs off the bed and began to look around. She was a bit unsteady on her legs at first but after the first little steps she managed to walk normally. It was actually a small apartment but without a kitchen. Too bad, she thought. There was a huge bathroom, a small bedroom, and a sitting room in the front with a couch and a TV again. The tones were neutral and all seemed unlived in. But it was a nice place anyway. She didn’t know where she was or who brought her here but she hadn’t felt so lighthearted since she couldn’t remember when. She sat on the floor of the living room and looked at the awakening of the city as the sun was slowly illuminating the sky.

  ~

Tony entered the room with a grin on his sleepy face. He had fun last night, playing in his lab. Everyone was already there taking the breakfast. Natasha was sticking to waffles and was reading a magazine. Loki was on the sofa still reading a book, a spell book this time. Sometimes he would try his spells on what stood next to him. That’s why the lamp had melted and the book was levitating in front of him. Steve and Bucky were silently sipping their coffee on a corner of the table next to Bruce while Wanda and Pietro were playing chess. Sam was at home, being the only Avenger who didn’t actually lived in the tower.Clint and Thor were trying to make toasted bread without actually burning it and were arguing loudly on the toping of the toasts.

“Peanut butter and jam is the better you heretic!” Clint tried to explain to Thor that his tastes were simply awful.

“I don’t see the problem in putting nutella and whipped cream on a toast!” Thor loudly replied grabbing the whipped cream and pouring some into his mouth with a long “pshiiiiiiit”.

“What you think you’re doing???” Clint voice shot up a few octaves as he grasped the whipped cream from Thor’s hands.

“I thought it was pretty obvious!” Thor boomed the mouth full of cream.

Steve and Natasha and the twins burst into laughter while Loki snorted and Bucky smiled at Bruce who had been spitting his tea in laughter.

“Thor that’s gross” Clint said closing his eyes.

“Seem that you guys are having fun without me!” Tony exclaimed in mock hurt. He approached the massive pantry and grabbed some Chocolate Chip cookies, put one in his mouth and added “for your record Thor, I love filling my mouth with whipped cream too.’ Till I make myself sick actually!”

He ignored the “its sacrilegious!” from Clint and sat next to Natasha who didn’t even bothered lifting her eyes from her magazine and started emptying his bag of cookies. All was silent for a moment and all the team could hear were the noise that the toaster was making and the crispy sound of waffles and cookies being chewed. Then Steve lifted his head from the sketch he was drawing and asked “What about the girl we rescued?”

~

(Some time earlier)

The sun was getting higher and she was becoming hungrier. She knew she had to do something for it when her stomach loudly rumbled. So she stood up from her spot and went to the bathroom. She looked at her reflection on the mirror hanging on the wall. _Well, I’ve seen worse_ she thought looking at her face. She looked like she had been thrown in briers and then electrified. Actually the second did happen. _Actually, no. I’m a mess_. She found a brush and tried to look more presentable but it wasn’t an easy task with her hurting arms. _I can’t even brush my hair properly it’s simply pathetic!_ Thanks God, her hair was quite short so it didn’t take long.

She was now in front of her suite’s door. She was hesitating: she didn’t know where she was; maybe she should wait for someone to come for her. But she didn’t felt like a prisoner and didn’t want to feel like one, taking no decision for herself. Furthermore, those who brought her in the first place had been kind enough to patch her up.

 _You’re thinking too much!_ She grabbed the doorknob and slowly opened the door. And even if their intentions aren’t good I think I could handle them anyway. She walked down the corridor, passing a few closed doors. It seemed that this floor was empty. She wandered a little, thinking she was lost but she managed to find an elevator. Inside all the floors were indicated. _Wow there’s a million floors!_ She looked at the names and pushed the button on the one that said “kitchen/dining room”.

 

(Present moment)

“What about the girl we rescued?” Steve question caused everybody to stop what they were doing.

“Steve she’s probably still unconscious. It’s only been 3 days and the girl was in bad shape.” Natasha said matter-of-factly, facing Steve.”Stop worrying, she’s out of danger.”

“The last time we checked, I removed her old bandages, replaced them, and removed the IV. She was still out.” Bruce added.

“When was it?” Steve asked anyway. He couldn’t help worrying for her. He worried for everyone; it was in his nature after all.

From the kitchen Clint sighed “Relax Cap! It was yesterday morning…Want some toast?”

Steve shook his head and insisted “She could be awake by now don’t you think? She could start panicking or wandering in the tower…”

“Gee Steve you’re such a mother hen!” Stark exclaimed, putting his hands up. “Ok JARVIS _you_ tell him where the girl is!”

“She’s here” said the AI simply. At the same moment they all heard the small “ding” of the elevator.

Then everything sped up. Tony gasped while Bucky choked on his coffee. Steve’s eyes widened and looked at his friend not wanting him to have a panic attack right now. Clint let out a “WHAT!?” and dropped his jammed toast. Bruce seemed to shrink on his chair while Natasha, usually composed, straightened and looked at the elevator expectantly. Thor followed her gaze in the kitchen while Loki jumped of the sofa and let his book fall. The chess game did the same as Wanda and Pietro jerked on their chair simultaneously like true twins would do in same situations. _Improvation it is_ Natasha thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for passing by!  
> Tell me if you want longer chapters or if it's fine,...I really enjoyed writting this chapter, maybe i was hungry so it happened...!  
> Next chapter, The Avengers will finally meet her!  
> Tell me your thoughts and i love you <3


	4. Lucy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers finally gets to meet her.

When the elevator doors slid open, the Avengers were not prepared for what the mysterious girl looked like, while awake. She wasn’t prepared to meet anyone so when she stepped in the room and looked up, she immediately froze. Exactly 10 persons were fixing her. Her gaze flickered, mapping every escape route, analyzing each one of them for their strengths and weaknesses as she flushed at the attention that she was bringing. _Come on! You’re not some scared chick, stop looking stupid and do something!_ she thought. She regained consistency amazingly quickly and cleared her throat.

“Err…Hi.” _Awkward_. Her sentence seemed to snap the Avengers to reality.

”Hello” Steve stood up and strode forward her, an arm outstretched to shake the girl’s hand. “Steve Rogers. Please excuse our behavior we didn’t know you were coming. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The girl flushed and shook Steve’s big hand. He looked so kind. _He would never harm me_.”Nice to meet you. I’m…I’m Lucy Cooper”

Steve smiled and guided her to the table and she tensed, while the rest of the team approached.

“Hey” Natasha said simply “Natasha Romanoff”

“Nice to meet you” Lucy murmured a little uncomfortable with her studying her face. Natasha had in fact noticed that Lucy had very dilated pupils. _Something’s not normal_ she thought.

“Are you alright?”

Lucy, taken aback shook her head in confusion. “Yeah, I’m fine thank you.”

“Come on Nat stop stressing Lucy !”. A man appeared in Lucy’s sight from the kitchen. He had a jammed toast (or the remains of a toast) in his hand and was winking to her. _That guy seems nice, I like him._

“Forgive Natasha. I have to work on her people skills. I’m Clint Barton by the way.” He gestured towards Thor who had managed to take the whipped cream back. “And this is Thor from Asgard.”

“It is very pleasant to have you with us Lady Lucy!” Thor boomed giving her a toothy grin. Lucy smiled nervously at him

“Thanks.” _Weird clothes and strange manner of speech_. _But he’s quite gentle at heart_. Her eyes flickering again around the spacey room she asked “But where-where I am?”

“Honey, you’re currently in the most amazing building of Manhattan which happens to be _my_ tower!” a bearded man said from behind Natasha. He stood up with a grin on his face and shook her hand. “And I’m the one and only Tony Stark!” he smirked as Clint faked coughing.

At this moment, reality stroke Lucy. “Wow. I am actually with… _The Avengers_?” she murmured more for herself. At her words a handsome pale man with crow black hair swaggered towards Lucy.

“Not only.” He was wearing clothing that was similar to Thor’s, the only difference being that his clothes were a deep green and gold. Lucy turned to face him as he looked down at her with a smirk, observing her like he was scheming something. “I’m Loki of Asgard.” _This girl has something special…but what?_

Lucy locked her light green eyes on his and intensely fixed him and then arched an eyebrow. “If I have to define you in one word it would probably be _‘cocky’_.” she said slowly, still fixing Loki. Loki’s smirk grew even wider and his eyes sparkled.

“What fierceness for such a small woman. Well my word for you is ‘mystery’. And I can tell you that I would find out the mystery surrounding you.” He is only fooling around. _He knows nothing about me._

“Good luck with that Mister _‘I’m definitely a stuckup_ ’ “ Lucy said emphasizing the last words sarcastically before grinning. She heard muffled laughs, snorts, again some fake coughing from Clint and someone spit out their drink, but she was too focused on glaring the guy in front of her. _I’m gonna have fun with this one_. Loki froze in place as he stared at her with wide eyes. Then he relaxed and he placed both hands behind his back as his arrogant smirk returned.

“She’s feisty for a mortal…I like her.” He studied her as if he had seen something strange in her eyes but his face returned to normal and his annoying smirk returned but she was getting used to it. And she actually liked it, his manner to be so self-confident, no matter what someone may say and she saw his sarcasm like a quality. Then he outstretched his arms and vanished into thin air, leaving only a thin slither of green smoke in his wake, as you stared at him in awe. Once he had disappeared the room burst into laughter.

“Lucy that’s the best thing I’ve ever seen!” Clint exclaimed, weeping a tear from his eyes. Tony was laughing so much he couldn’t talk. Natasha looked at her with a proud grin when she stopped laughing.

“Yeah he deserved it. I’m glad you put Loki back in his place!”

“Please be patient with my brother, Lady Lucy, he is…different” Thor struggled with the last word of his statement and she didn’t blame him. Instead she smiled at him.

”It’s okay…He seems fine anyway” Thor smiled back at her words. When the room had calmed, Steve who had been standing behind her pointed someone.

”That’s Doctor Bruce Banner” he stated. She followed his finger and she saw a timid man with brunette hair and glasses sitting on the far corner of the table with a cup of tea in front of him. “He patches us up often, well, when we hurt ourselves” Steve informed her.

“Which happens a lot” Clint added.

“Over there it’s the twins Wanda and Pietro Maximoff.” They smiled and waved at her.

“Nice to meet you” Wanda said with a heavily accented English before kneeling down to pick up the chess pieces.

Lucy felt a rush of air blow in her face and a man appeared in front of her out of nowhere. Actually he had come out of his chair.

He started presenting himself and complimenting Lucy in a quick tirade -which Lucy didn't pay much attention. She blinked in surprise when he stopped his cheesy compliments and leaned down to quickly kiss her cheek. Her hand immediately flew up to her cheek he had kissed.

“Bet you didn’t see that coming!” he remarked with a wink.

“PIETRO!!!” Wanda shrieked, standing up sharply. Pietro winced and raced back to his chair, leaving a trail of blue energy. But Wanda still managed to throw a black knight on his head.

“Ouch you didn’t have to do this” he gave his sister a teasing look.

“Well you didn’t have to do that either!” she replied rolling her brown eyes at him. Lucy couldn’t stand it anymore and burst in laughter.

“Guys you two are so hilarious! Don’t know how you can move this fast though.”

Pietro was delighted to see her laughing because of him.

“That’s my power honey: I can run very _very_ fast.” Steve chose this moment to place his big hand on Lucy’s shoulder.

“You have one last person to meet.” Lucy looked up with curiosity at Steve as he guided her behind Natasha and Tony to a far corner of the table. The man she saw had been trying hard not to me noticed, standing in a dark spot of the room. He was a brunette with quite long hair that was falling in his ice blue eyes. She felt Steve tense behind her same as the rest of the team.

“Lucy this is Bucky. Bucky this is Lucy.” She could feel the man in front of her was nervous. He literally radiated anxiousness. And anxiousness made him seem dangerous and unstable. _Maybe I shouldn’t have pushed him to meet her_ Steve bit his lower lip, but it was too late to back up. She locked her eyes with his.

“Bucky…” Recognition flickered in Lucy’s eyes as she drew in his ice blue eyes. I already saw this man… “You-you’re the one who got me out of this cell” Lucy murmured, her eyes becoming glassy.His body trembled as he nodded. She suppressed a sob, trying to hold back her tears.

And all at a sudden, but slowly at the same time, she moved closer and wrapped her arms around him, setting her head on his chest, in a tight hug.The whole team held it breath.

“Thank you” she whispered,, her voice full of emotion, just loud enough for him to hear. Taken by surprise Bucky first stiffened, no used to physical contact but the woman who was holding him was so warm and soft, her gesture being like a summer breeze that he suddenly felt the need to comfort her. Awkwardly, Bucky raised and wrapped his right arm around her waist. She didn’t pull away and he thanked God for that. It’s been so long since someone had been gentle with him and hadn’t been scared about him. _She thanked me. She thinks I’m a hero. But she doesn’t know me_.

After a few instants, she finally let go, weeping her eyes and turning around to face the whole team who had been watching the entire scene unsurely.

“Thank you all for getting me out of-“she shrugged, telling the name this organization being hard for her,”-where you find me.” She smiled sheepishly at all the comforting and understanding expressions worn on the Avengers’ faces.

“You should stay in the tower for a while. It’s too dangerous for you out there.” Natasha finally spoke.

“Guess we’re having a new member in our merry team!” Tony exclaimed clapping his hands together as to settle the thing.

 _I have nowhere to go, I’m alone and they saved me_. “Yeah I guess you’re right.” Lucy murmured. She knew it was the end of her known world. _Where I got myself into?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!  
> I want to thank all of you for stopping by and reading my work, leaving kudos, i'm so happy I love you!  
> Did you like it? No? Kudos? Comments maybe? Please!
> 
> I do not own anything from the mcu. Only my mistakes (sorry about that) and my OC.
> 
> Love you <3


	5. That's no thrift shop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'm Tony Stark and Tony Stark is buying you a new wardrobe!"

The day after, she was settled in. She basically didn’t have any items so it didn’t take long. The first day she just stayed in her room resting because she realized that her short interaction with the Avengers drained the little energy she had. In the afternoon she picked a random book from the bookshelf of the living room which happened to be the Grimm tales. Eventually she had fallen asleep on the couch after Snow White and had only woken up early in the morning. She stretched from her relatively uncomfortable position and as soon as she opened her eyes, a dehumanized voice came out of nowhere.

“Good morning miss Cooper.”

Lucy shot up from the couch looking around wildly in a fight stance, making the book fall. “Who’s there?”

“I’m JARVIS, Mr. Stark’s A.I. system. I’m sorry if I have frightened you Miss Cooper, Mr. Stark wanted to let you know that you’re going shopping with him today.”

Lucy let out a sigh of relief and relaxed. I have to be less stressed; I’m safe here she reminded herself. Stark had had a great idea which happened to be obvious as Lucy had literally nothing to wear. Even her black pajamas weren’t hers but Natasha’s. “Oh great, it’s clear I can’t be in pajamas all the time! But err…did he think about what I was going to wear to go shopping?” She was uncomfortable with the fact of talking to an empty room.

“Of course. Your clothing awaits you in front of your door. Miss Wanda Maximoff brought it a few moments ago.”

“That’s very kind of her” Lucy said. She moved towards the door to open it and took the package. Ten minutes later she was standing in front of the huge mirror in the bathroom. She was wearing black destroyed jeans, a plain black tank top and a large red buffalo shirt that covered perfectly her bandages on the wrists. At her feet she had black booties. It wasn’t her style at all but she wasn’t going to complain. And, to say the truth, she was kind of rocking this outfit.

“Wow. JARVIS how do I look?”

“In my opinion you’re very well dressed.”

She made some poses, turning in front of the mirror. “You’re sweet.” In few instants she had developed a friendship with the A.I. It had become her first friend and she knew somehow that she could trust him, and she wasn’t uncomfortable to speak with him anymore, even if that seemed strange.

“Mr Stark is waiting for you in the dining room.”

“Okay” she let out a sigh. “Now all I have to do is make a good impression.”

~

In the kitchen, the rest of the team was eating breakfast. Thor had mastered the toaster and was currently making a huge pile of toasts with between each one of them maple syrup. Steve, Bucky and Clint were all watching from the counter eating pancakes, laughing at the way Loki looked at his brother with an expression of pure disgust on his face, while eating grapes on a corner of the kitchen. Natasha’s head was deep in the big fridge, desperately trying to find her russian syrniki and was beginning to think that Pietro had stolen them. She resolved herself into making oatmeal. Wanda and Bruce were silently waiting for the coffee to be ready. All of them were shocked when Tony entered the room whistling “ _La vie en rose_ ”.

“What are you doing here?” Clint blurted out.

“Good morning Legolas, I’m fine thank you for not asking. Um I actually live here. And this building is mine remember?” Tony said approaching the counter.

“He meant what are you doing here …so soon?” Natasha pointed the clock with her spatula, confused along with everyone else.

“Too much interaction on the morning is killing me.” Loki muttered annoyingly, swallowing a grape.

“Oh that?” Tony said snagging a grape from Loki “I’m taking Lucy shopping.”

Loki had been about to make Stark regret taking his grapes but had been cut short before he could do it. He froze and turned to face the billionaire, along with Clint, Steve and Bucky who had stopped eating pancakes at the same time to glare at Tony. The situation could have been comical if there hadn’t been so much suspicion in their glare. Natasha crossed her arms and shared a knowing look with Bruce. Tony had an interest in their new member and Natasha bet he wasn’t alone and all this wasn’t as innocent as it may seem. In the meantime, Thor, oblivious to the tension growing around him was the first along with Wanda, to see Lucy enter the room.

“Good morning Lucy!” Wanda exclaimed smiling at her. Actually she wanted this to be a signal to the others to act normal. She took a look at the incomer and her smile grew in even wider. _She’s the little sister I never had…and she is even better in my clothes!_

“Lady Lucy!” Thor boomed “you look lovely this morning!”

 

They all snapped their heads towards her and she shuffled nervously. Lucy’s hand fluttered to smooth her tee and placed one rebel strand of light ginger hair behind her ear. Gee they should stop staring at people like that! Again an awkward silence was building around them.

~

Tony was simply stunned. He knew she hadn’t any clothes and that one of the girl had to lend her some but he wasn’t prepared to see Lucy making Wanda special clothing so pretty and attractive. And he imagined her with the new clothes he was about to get her, specially chosen for her. _She’ll look amazing_.

~

Loki was speechless. The creature standing before him was indeed lovely but it was more than that. There was something magical, he could feel power radiating from her. She seemed to be an innocent and yet sassy kitten but Loki knew there was something wild and dangerous about her.He wondered if he was the only one who could feel it. Maybe Wanda could too. And he couldn’t help but being intrigued by her and he groaned internally as the fact that Stark was the one who will spend the day with her. But he vowed that as soon as she returned he would seek to spend time with her.

~

Bucky was maybe the more eager to see her and the more uncomfortable with it at the same time. Ever since she had hugged him he had spent a lot of time thinking about her, how that girl had hugged him like it was the most normal thing to do. At this moment he had felt _human_. Looking at her borrowed clothes that visibly weren’t her style and the way she tucked her hair behind her ear with such modesty Bucky managed a small smile and then mentally slapped himself for it. He was behaving like an idiot _, why am i smiling? So stupid!_. But he couldn’t help it. In fact he wanted to spend more time with her, make her smile and hear her laugh,... Damn it Tony.

~

Natasha and Wanda shared a knowing look, silently giggling at the reaction of their teammates. But they didn’t know if that was going to end well. Even they could feel this strange vibe from Lucy. Looking at the rest of the team, the girls assumed the role of the normal people in the group.

“Breakfast? I made oatmeal if you want some.” Natasha said. Wanda, always smiling made a sign for her to come nearer. Taking a deep breath, Lucy walked through the room and approached the counter, trying to look as relaxed and confident as it may be. And she actually managed to almost succeed. Loki admired the amazing change. She is a chameleon of emotions. Steve smiled as he looked at Bucky holding his breath while looking at Lucy.

“So you’re going shopping right?” Clint asked.

“Yeah, Tony is taking me out to buy some clothes” Lucy answered humbly.

“C’mon honey! I’m not buying you “some clothes”! I’m Tony Stark and Tony Stark is buying you a new wardrobe!” Tony raised his hands up dramatically at his last words. And without waiting for Lucy to finish her oatmeal, Tony grabbed her arm and dragged her to the elevator, leaving the team chuckling at the slightly terrified look on her face as the doors closed.

~

Actually, shopping with Tony had been fun though exhausting. He had dragged her in more than 20 different stores and insisted that she tries anything she liked and usually ended up buying it. Tony revealed his “clothes advisor” side of him and often told Lucy what could be good on her. Sometimes he would try some weird glasses or funny hat to make her laugh. In the end he had send many, many bags back to the tower, along with a ton of other things. Lucy was like in a dream and could barely believe what was happening to her. And she was becoming more and more embarrassed as the time was passing by until she couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Tony thanks you for all but that’s too much! I won’t be able to repay you in any way…” Lucy started, looking miserably to the ground, refusing to meet his eyes.

“Nonsense Lucy! You can’t possibly stay in my building and don’t have the minimal!” Tony dismissed the problem, waving with his hand. They visibly had a very different point of you on the “minimal” stuff she needed.

“How can you be this kind with me, yet you don’t even know me…?” Lucy insisted. At that, Tony smile dropped and stared at Lucy very seriously, putting his hands on both of her shoulders.

“You were alone in a dark cell, down in a HYDRA base underground, attached on a chair with your wrists bleeding over the floor. At least I know you’re not in their side and that means I can trust you and we can be friends. Ok? You’re in need of new clothing because of them, and I’m glad I can offer it to you.” Lucy tensed at the mention of HYDRA but nodded at what Tony said anyway. _But will he react the same when he will know what I truly am?_ Since they have finished shopping, they headed up to the car to come back at the tower. Tony had discovered that Lucy loved all kinds of songs and music as she was literally a living jukebox so he put some Black Sabbath in the car to see if she liked it. The journey home had been awkwardly silent from the latest discussion until Tony finally spoke up.

“You know what, actually we don’t know you.” He said, looking at the road in front of them, thinking. “Why were you in that base at the first place? What makes you so special?”

Lucy had seen that coming and let out a sigh. Tony deserved the truth along with the rest of the Avengers. And she knew deep inside that if she stayed with them she would have to tell them eventually. Maybe it was time. She took a deep breath and looked at Tony with her light green eyes.

“I…- What’s going on?” Lucy asked in confusion, looking at the building as smoke and gunshots could be seen and heard in front of her while Tony stopped the car.

“it had to happen when i was out...We must hurry.” Tony said getting out of the car and holding a hand out for her.

”Seems like the tower is under attack” Lucy's eyes widened as she took his hand anxiously and raced out to the tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
> Hope you liked the chapter. Don't forget to leave kudos (thank you guys you're awesome), comments (please?),...  
> Promise, in the next chapter, there's some cool action !  
> I was listening to "Thrift shop" lately (please have mercy lol) hence the title...Sorry i'm not sorry.  
> As always i own nothing except for Lucy.  
> Bye, love you !


	6. The curtain falls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't want to spoil....lol.

The Avengers were battling a rogue group of Hydra militants. They had somehow managed to snick in the building and were doing their best to take out the Avengers. It was a massive attack and they outnumbered the heroes twenty to one. The fight wasn’t as easy and quick as usual, the team struggling against the opponent. Clint and Natasha had taken hits that had left them unable to take as many enemies as usual. Steve was surrounded by a crowd of HYDRA agents while Bucky tried to join him but failing as the enemy kept distracting him and attacking him. Loki and Thor were working together for once but both of them were exhausted and suffered injuries that were slowing them down. Bruce was nowhere to be found as he had retreated to the reinforced cell he and Tony had built for him. The twins were off for the day, visiting some museum to change their minds, and Sam was at work as VA counselor.The team was about to be overwhelmed when Tony burst in the room, the suit already on and initiating the targeting system. In a matter of seconds he had already taken out at least 6 HYDRA agents. He had left Lucy under the bar to keep her safe while he worked on taking out the others.

It happened so quickly. They were all focused on not getting killed and taking out the remaining of the enemy that they didn’t see the one hidden behind a destroyed table along with 2 others. The one hidden behind the table silently stood up, raising his long knife above his shoulder, fixing Clint’s back to stab him. He waited a second to make sure the team was properly distracted before he ran from his cover, knife upraised…only to be tossed across the room on his back, his knife falling from his hand. He widened his eyes in terror at the sight of Barton’s saver.

The team turned just in time to see his throat being ripped out by a creature halfway between human and giant cat with familiar light green eyes. She stood up gracefully and took the knife from the floor only to throw it between the second HYDRA agent’s eyes with a deadly precision. The third agent tried to shoot her but she rolled on the floor and gave him a foot kick on the face hard enough to break his neck. Then she slowly got on her feet and they all watched in shock as she morphed back into Lucy Cooper.

There was a dead silence among the Avengers. They were in line, dumbfounded and a little ragged from the fight. And Lucy just stared back at them breathing heavily fromher fight, pupils dilated in anxiousness. _Oh no… I messed up everything!_ _Now they’re scared of me, what they will think about me?_

“I knew it! I knew you were more than you were showing!” Natasha suddenly burst with a satisfied grin on her face. Lucy unfroze and snapped her head in Natasha’s direction.

“What?!”

“So that’s what you do…quite impressive.” Loki added failing to hide his surprise. The rest of the team was still processing the fact that her cute new teammate had just morphed into a big feline and beat the crap out of those HYDRA agents. They were all simply impressed. Some “wow” and “that’s awesome” along with a “I still don’t understand what happened” from Steve could be heard. However, Lucy was failing to calm her breath and was starting to panic. She didn’t understand their reactions. _They should fear me, they should cast me away I don’t belong with them…!_ Her eyes filled with tears and she shook her head in confusion.

“I don’t understand…I-I literally slew them…I morphed and I slew them! Why are you not scared?” Bruce who had slipped in the room right after the fight, approached her carefully.

“It’s okay now Lucy. You killed them because they were about to stab Clint right? You protected him. You did the right thing and now everyone’s safe. But you need to calm down.” He said it with a gentle tone as to not frighten her, with his palms raised in a non threatening way.

“ I didn’t mean to…I just couldn’t help it…But I didn’t want you to know…I messed up everything!” Lucy murmured, slightly hyperventilating. As the Avengers were still not able to speak a word to her, Bruce took the confused young woman by her shoulders and directed her towards the door.

“Ssh, everything is alright. Let’s get some air shall we?” She let him lead her outside, in a second state. As soon as the doors closed, the team unfroze and burst into a loud conversation.

“This girl saved my ass!” exclaimed Clint, brushing his hair with his hand. “We should bring her in the team.”

“The problem is if she can’t control it. I don’t want a second Hulk.” Natasha mused. “And did you see her? She started panicking right after.”

“I thought you were happy that she showed us her powers.”

“I made a bet with myself and I won. From the first moment, I knew something was off. You guys are just so blind sometimes.” Natasha moved towards the mess they had done. “I don’t want to be a kill-joy but we have to clean up eventually.” And they started cleaning the room.

“Don’t make a generality. I noticed she wasn’t as normal as a mortal should be too.” Loki snorted towards Natasha.

“How did you know brother?” Thor asked startled.

“It was easy actually. The girl just radiated magic. The fight triggered it” Loki said in a know-it-all way.

“But what Lucy was doing in the middle of the battle in the first place?” Bucky said his first word since the incident suddenly, causing everybody to stop dead in track.

“Yeah Bucky’s right…” Steve said and they all turned towards the Iron Man. “Stark!”

“Don’t look at me like that! I didn’t anything! I left her under the bar where she would be safe. And it’s not my fault with this tête brulée decided to be a cat!” raising his hands in surrender. “And the truth is she really did save Birdman here.”

“Damn Lucy is amazing.” Bucky murmured, voicing the thought of everyone in the room. They finished cleaning the room not without a “Gee Lucy really did a number on them.” from Clint.

~

Outside the room, Bruce and Lucy were silently talking. The good doctor had managed to calm the young woman, after a certain amount of tears. Lucy had ended up with telling him a part of her history. She knew she could trust him, until a certain excent. He had mostly listened to her silently, just asking a few questions on what she was telling. He was very understanding and she was glad for it.

“Will you tell what you told me to the team?” the doctor finally asked. Lucy looked at him taking a deep breath and a determinate look on her beautiful face.

“Yes. All of it.”

~

The Avengers were chatting in the room till they saw Lucy enter the room followed closely by Bruce. She walked slowly and carefully as if not to spook them. Everyone was quiet for a moment. Standing in front of them, Lucy looked down shyly, biting her lip. She had removed her red shirt and she was now in her black tank top that showed her bandages and her beautiful features at the same time. She looked back at them and shifted nervously, gesturing towards the living-room.

“I don’t want this to be even more awkward so…can we go in there to talk?”

~

Once everyone was settled into chairs and sprawled across sofas, she started. “First of all, I’m so sorry for…what happened earlier.” Lucy said quietly. She was so calm and normal that it was hard to believe that she was the feline who had killed for their teammate. Then she started her history.

“My mother is a mutant. When I was born, my parents discovered that I inherited that mutation in an even more powerful way. I am able to shift into an entire mountain lion and I can shift partially too. What you all saw earlier was my hybrid form, between human and feline. You wanted to know what made me so special Tony don’t you? Well you can say I’m basically a werecat. My parents hid my powers and told me not to shift under any circumstance. My mom knew it was hard for me, as she had to do the same outside home so when I turned 6, they subscribed me to a gymnastics club. When I turned 18, I moved and in the same time I found a best friend in the gym, she was a bit older than me and we were very close. She was very curious about my talent in gymnastics and my life in general as the years went by. But you know girls share a lot of things even if i was careful.  But that was okay. Until she betrayed me and I was kidnapped by HYDRA.” Lucy stopped for a moment, her voice had started shaking.

Bruce who was sitting next to her took her hand in his. Looking up at him, Lucy gently squeezed it before continuing. “I was taken to a facility in remote northern Pennsylvania where they experimented on me. I didn’t understand a lot of what was going on, but I eventually figured out that they knew I was a mutant and they wanted to control and replicate this mutation to create a special team. They used to make me shift with electricity and then observe the amount of pain I could take before morphing back into a human. I constantly had electrodes on my arms but I didn’t know why I had them. They were about to wipe my memory as they wanted me to become err…a kind of a new “Asset” when you guys found me.”

She felt better after sharing her history with the Avengers. For Lucy, this notion of “new asset” was a little out of reach but she felt Bucky froze next to her. She looked at him with a questioning glaze. All the team was in shock. In front of Lucy, there was a palette of emotions from admiration to anger. They were all impressed too. She was stronger than Natasha had thought. It was comforting, really. She had been so worried about the younger woman, more than she would like to admit.

Loki was genuinely amazed by her strength along with Thor. Tony was simply pissed. Clint wanted to shoot an arrow on one of those HYDRA freaks’ eye. Steve held his head in guilt. Natasha knew he had to feel guilty for what happened to Lucy for it was in his nature. For him, he should have taken HYDRA down once for all back in the 40’ and he felt like it was all his fault. Bucky was in shock. He had listened to her story, frozen as the will to hold her tight and protect her had grown stronger. He understood. He knew. _We’re the same._ Deep inside that was all he really wanted – a person who could understand. Steve was trying to be there for him but he couldn’t do much. And if that was what he wanted, it was possible that that was what she wanted too…

“So…I assume you guys have questions?” Lucy asked after a moment. She saw them nodding so she settle a bit further on the couch.

“Let’s recap…You can shift into a mountain lion just like that?” Clint asked confused.

“Just like that yeah.” Lucy smiled at him.

“And you can control it?” Natasha mused . Lucy started playing with the hem of her tee nervously. “Well kind of.” Natasha raised an eyebrow.

“I control it most of the time but sometimes when I can't keep my emotions in check-and it’s rare-, I shift. It’s instinctive.”

“Does the mutation affect you when you’re in your human form?” Bucky asked quietly, surprising Lucy. She heard a “That’s a good question Frosty!” from Tony and she smiled embarrassed.

“Umh yeah, yeah it affects me…I’m a werecat after all!” Lucy laughed. “I’m very flexible but that’s good. But err…”

“What is it Lucy?” Steve asked gently.

“When I’m very happy I…purr but it doesn’t happen often though.” Lucy said blushing brightly causing everybody to laugh. “And don’t tease me with a red laser either, I would probably try to catch it…”. Seeing Tony’s suggestive face she quickly added “ No just kidding!”

“Huh,” Bruce muttered “Anything else?”

“I like climbing things and being on high ground. But don’t worry I can control myself!” Lucy looked down in though for an instant, her cheeks still red. Then she looked back at the team from under her lashes. “So…you still want me in your team?” she whispered.

“Of course!!!” The Avengers exclaimed causing Lucy to laugh in happiness.

“This needs a group hug!” Tony laughed. Everybody stood up and they embraced Lucy with happy smiles. Loki had been dragged by Thor but was secretly enjoying it and Bucky who had been trying to escape had been caught by Lucy.

“Come here!” she had said her eyes sparkling. And Bucky joined them in their “group hug”, eventually being genuinely happy along with the others. When he turned his head towards her, he saw that she was watching him with her luminous green eyes, smiling. And he suddenly felt butterflies fluttering in his stomach. Then they decided to leave her with the doctor Banner, who wanted to know more about Lucy’s mutation. They also knew that it was probably best to give her some space. She had already shared a lot with them, more than they had thought she would. So they left her hoping they would get a chance to spend some time getting to know her better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone thaks for stopping by!  
> So Lucy is a mutant...Wow. Didn't see that coming?  
> Please leave some kudos, and comments to tell me your thoughts !!!


	7. Training and bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins know what happened in the last chapter along with Sam thanks to the Avengers. This takes place a few days later. Lucy gets to spend more time with Wanda and Pietro . Training session!

“Come on Lucy! It’s only been like three hours!” Natasha exclaimed laughing. The Avengers had agreed to train Lucy and it has begun with Natasha. _“I know you could just shift and become a killing machine but there are a lot of enemies out there and you have to keep up appearances” Natasha had said_. She had taught her basic punches and kicks after the failure of the thigh choke-hold. Lucy had fallen at least ten times and had said she didn't want to steal the Widow's signature move. And now after three hours of sparring Lucy had simply slumped down to the ground exhausted.

“Nat you killed me. I’m good for today.” Lucy said from where she was laying. She was exaggerating of course. She could spend an entire afternoon training gymnastics but boxing with a high trained Russian spy did spend her.

“Okay enough for today. You put up a fight better than I was expecting.” Natasha smiled and sat next to Lucy, removing the tape of her knuckles.

“Thanks…I guess. I’m gonna kick so many asses now.” She faked two punches in the air and then sighed in contentment while Natasha laughed. Then Lucy rolled on her stomach,before sitting in a split.

“You miss gymnastics don’t you?”Natasha asked softly. She imitated Lucy’s split and ended up in front of her.

“Yeah. A lot.” Lucy sighed. Natasha smiled and pointed at the storage room on a corner of the huge floor while standing up.

“There’s a lot of material there. I’m sure we could install some things for you. You could always train gymnastics, even if it doesn’t fit on your “official” training.”

“Really? You would do that for me?” Lucy’s eyes lit up and gave Natasha a broad smile. She was so happy that she stood up and hugged the Russian spy before doing a backflip. “Yeah! Gymnastics forever!”

Looking at her, Natasha couldn’t help thinking how young Lucy was. She was like a baby among the Avengers. As if the twins weren’t enough. The thought made her smirk.

~

It was lunchtime so the girls headed up to the kitchen. It was quite empty except for Wanda and Pietro who were eating and chatting at the same time. Wanda was bursting into laughter when Natasha and Lucy stepped in the room. Seeing that Lucy won’t be alone, Natasha waved at the twins and turned towards the doors.

“Keep an eye on her” she said to the twins as if Lucy was a small child, causing Lucy to widen her eyes in a “what?!” expression. “Have fun, don’t break anything. Pietro, I didn’t forget what you did to my pastries.” And she was gone.

“Well…you wanna eat with us or keep standing up next to the door forever?” Pietro said grinning at her, waving off Natasha’s warning. Wanda laughed and put another plate next to her for Lucy. Lucy rolled her eyes at Pietro’s comment and approached the merry table.

“What are you guys eating?” she said sitting next to Wanda.

“Um mac ‘n ‘cheese.” Pietro said mouth full.“It’s the first time we’re eating it and I love it. You sis?”

“Yeah I love it too! And it’s very easy to make.” Wanda said pouring some into Lucy’s plate.

“Can’t believe you lived without it. It’s basically one of my favorite dishes.” Lucy exclaimed digging into her pasta and putting some of it in her mouth. Wanda smiled as they heard Pietro saying “I can’t believe it too! I feel like I could eat that every day of my life-“

“But you won’t because it’s not healthy. Too much fat.” Wanda cut him off.

“Don’t mother me please. You perfectly know my metabolism burns all that fat I eat. I’ll always be in perfect shape.” He said with a wink at Lucy who resisted the urge to facepalm. _Oh boy…_ They spent the rest of the lunch laughing at each other’s jokes (mostly Pietro’s) and talking about them. Lucy enjoyed their company for they had a lot in common. They talked about their powers, something Lucy couldn’t talk about with the others this naturally. The twins were amazed by her mutation and pressed her to show them as they weren’t there when she shifted. She laughed at Pietro’s “oh” mouth shape and Wanda’s widened brown eyes when she extended her nails into becoming claws. And it was obvious they were about the same age, early twenties maybe 25. She was maybe a bit younger. And they were so joyful despite the childhood they had told her about.

“It’s because we still have each other.” Wanda said. Pietro extended his hand across the table and Wanda had taken it, gently squeezing it. I _t’s good to have someone to rely on. Someone by your side no matter what happens_ Lucy thought. They literally spent a great time bonding with each others. Wanda and Pietro listened attentively at Lucy when she talked about all the amazing songs they have to listen and laughed at her reaction when she learned they watched only several Disney movies. Lucy dramatically put a hand on her chest in mock chock with a “My goodness!”

“It’s my duty to show them to you. Finding Nemo? Lion king? Dumbo? Gee so much to catch up! It’s gonna be so fun!” Lucy finally said, grinning. Lunchtime was over and Lucy wanted to return to the gym. So she stood up and after she had thanked them for the amazing time she had spent with them she moved towards the door, not without a last look at the twins. And when she looked at them, she saw two friends.

~

Steve, Bucky and Sam had run all morning. Well, Steve and Bucky had been running and Sam had been trying to keep up the whole time. It was a “calm” day today: no missions, no saving the world, no major HYDRA actions, just a normal day. And everyone was making the best of it. For them, it was running.

“Sam you look like a dying fish when you run.” Bucky said suddenly matter-of-factly, on the way back to the tower. Steve laughed and Sam smiled. He was happy Bucky was making progress in socializing and talking to people, even if that meant him being sarcastic.

“If we can call that running!” Steve joined in, making Bucky slightly smile. Sam rolled his eyes.

“Man you hurt my pride! “ Sam laughed.

“You make it too easy Sam.” Steve replied, giving a light punch on Sam’s shoulder.

“Excuse me to be the normal guy here!” They walked in silence for a moment. As they approached the tower, Sam turned his head towards Steve.

“So how is Lucy going?” he asked. He hadn’t seen her since they found her in the HYDRA base, and even though he had been updated on what happened in the tower since she arrived, he didn’t know Lucy’s current state.

“Oh well I think she’s fine. We didn’t see her much after the err…incident. We agreed to train her and today it was her first day of training with Nat. I’m sure it went well. “ Steve said.

“From what you told me, this girl is pretty amazing.” Sam added.

“Yeah she is. Imagine: Lucy is basically a werecat. It’s incredible and weird at the same time.”

“The world’s weird man. You gotta live with it.” Sam smiled at him, as they arrived to the tower.

~

It had been quite easy for Lucy to return to the training floor as every floor name was in the elevator. And JARVIS was here to help. She didn’t know where Natasha went but she assumed that spies had a lot of work to do. She wandered where the rest of the team were. _But hey, JARVIS can keep me updated if there’s something new.Obviously they don’t need me. Natasha told me I could train here when I wanted and that’s what I’m gonna do s_ he thought after a moment. When she arrived to the gym she saw that some of the material had already been installed. Looking at it she smiled. _It’s good to be back._ After she changed into workout clothes, composed of a neon yellow sport bra and black yoga pants, she approached the complex.

“JARVIS? Play some ambiance music please.” She said, starting a series of stretching exercises on the gym floor. She was a bit off practice but the moves came quite quickly after a few struggles. Half an hour later, she finished her stretches and her warm-up. Standing up, she let out a sigh. It was foreign to her to be alone in the gym. No other girls, no coaches. She was missing that a bit. But she remembered that her last coach had turned out to be HYDRA the whole time and her nostalgia changed into a dull anger as she felt claws extending.

“Crap…” she growled, noticing it. Her claws became nails again and she ran her hands on her face as if to wash away her tantrum. She won’t let this win over her. She was over it. Or was she?

“I almost lost it didn’t I JARVIS?” she said in defeat. She was standing alone in a middle of the gym. The music was long over and she was feeling empty.

“You overcame it well Miss. I was about to inform Sir of your situation but I don’t see the reason to do it anymore. How are you currently feeling?” JARVIS answered.

“I’m fine.” she whispered to herself as to be sure of it. Then she straightened and said louder this time “I’m fine.” She put her ginger hair into a little bun (her hair was just long enough to do it almost perfectly) and moved towards a corner of the gym floor, a determined look on her face.

“Alright JARVIS. Let’s train some floor moves. Play something, like the gymnastics music “rise”. Lucy straightened in her corner and breathed in, raising her arms in a starting pose.

“Are you ready Miss?”

She smirked. “I am.”

* **BIIIIIP** * the warning sound echoed in the gym and the music started.

~

Steve, Sam and Bucky arrived in the living room. They had eaten burgers along the way, that’s why it was already like 1p.m when they came back. Steve and Sam where chatting about things and stuff (actually they were arguing about the quality of the running shoes nowadays). Bucky was silently walking behind them. He had stopped talking long ago, he was beginning to feel uncomfortable around the others again. Now he just wanted to be alone. In the living room Pietro and Wanda were playing to Wii, a new thing for them, and Pietro, who happened to be the best at it, was smashing his frustrated sister at Super Smash Brawl. Clint and Natasha had arrived a few moments ago and were at the bar with beer bottles in hands, silently talking. Thor and Loki were nowhere to been seen: Thor had to do his rapport on Loki’s punishment on Earth.

“Hi Cap! Had some fun running?” Clint exclaimed from the bar, watching the three men enter.

“Well we hurt Sam’s pride, but that’s no big deal” Steve said, teasing Sam.

“Stop it man!”

“Don’t be so touchy Sam, we all know you can’t keep up with the two grandpas. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Natasha joked. Sam facepalmed in a “I didn’t deserve this” way and Natasha and Clint bro fisted. Steve turned around looking for Bucky and found him in a corner of the kitchen with a bottle of beer.

“You okay Buck?” Steve asked worriedly. He had noticed he hadn’t said a word since his little joke on the way back. Bucky turned his head to avoid looking at Steve.

“Yeah I’m fine.” He grumbled.

Steve sighed sadly.“Okay Buck whatever you say. Just tell me if you need anything.” He returned next to the bar where Clint, Natasha and Sam where talking. Looking at Sam’s face, it had to be serious. Clint and Natasha debriefed him too on the current situation.

“So you’re telling me there are still HYDRA scientists from the base in Pennsylvania in the wild?” Steve asked confused. Apparently, Clint and Natasha had returned there in order to find some clue and had found out that there had been a recent HYDRA activity in the area, even if the base were mostly destroyed.

“You heard us. We have reasons to think some of them escaped the attack. Plus, Thor saw them. But we were too busy with Lucy, we didn’t follow them. They may have kept some info on her and their experiments, we have to find them.” Clint said. Natasha and Sam nodded darkly and Steve pinched his nose bridge.

“If only we had destroyed them completely back in the 40s…”

Bucky listened to their talk all along, pretending not to hear and drinking beer, while the twins were totally oblivious of the situation. When he heard that some scientists had escaped, he violently tightened his grip on the bottle and took a deep breath. _It will never be over…_ He released the bottle before chattering it and rubbed his eyes with his hand. At the sound of doors opening, he raised up his head from the floor. Tony and Bruce came in, chatting about science and tech.

“Hey! Looks like we’re all here!” Tony exclaimed looking at the people in the room. Pietro and Wanda stopped the game and turned their heads to see who was speaking. The group at the bar stopped talking all at once and stared at the incomers. “Wow, I know that look tell me what’s going on. Gee can there be one day without any bad news?” Tony said taking a look at Steve's dark face.

“Where’s Lucy?” Natasha asked instead, realizing she hadn’t seen the young woman since lunchtime. And apparently, nobody seemed to know where she was, referring to the slightly worried faces surrounding her.

“Nobody knows where she is?” Sam asked dumbfounded. “Have you seen her today?”

“Yeah I saw her this morning, I left her with the twins!” Natasha said turning sharply towards them.

“She left us but she didn’t say where she was going!” Pietro exclaimed.

“You didn’t ask?!” Clint said putting his bottle on the table. Before Pietro could answer, Tony raised his hands and stopped him.

“Woah woah everybody chill!” he interrupted, “Nobody’s dead yet. Our Lucy is necessarily in the building. But first I gotta say that Natasha is a horrible babysitter. Shame on you!”

“Stark…” Bucky growled, raising his voice.

“Alright alright Frosty no need to get angry.” Tony said in surrender. “JARVIS, pull up the feed from where Lucy is.”

“Of course sir.” A screen appeared on the wall, and some live camera feed was seen. They all could perfectly see Lucy in…the gym?

“What is she doing here?” Clint asked before being hushed by Natasha. Lucy was on a gym floor doing some series. Music could be heard on the background. She was doing dance movements and leaps across the floor before arriving in a corner. Then they saw her taking a deep breath. Their mouths dropped when she did a front handspring with full twist before hand support.

“How was it this time JARVIS?” she asked, catching her breath.

“From my data base on the subject, I would say you did the Mostepanova move almost perfectly Miss. Your legs need to be a bit more extended I think.”

“Almost perfect isn’t good enough!” Lucy said and she did the incredible move once again. Tony chose this moment to cut the feed. A dumbfounded silence followed.

“She can do that?” Wanda whispered.

“Her training would be easier than I first thought.” Steve said. “Did you see her agility?”

“We have to develop that talent. Enhance her best gifts. She’s a valuable asset in this team and we will eventually need her on the field.” Natasha added and Clint nodded.

“And I’m sure she’ll want to train hard when she’ll learn that all the bastards that experienced on her didn’t die.” Bucky said darkly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone !  
> A huge thanks for the kudos i love you !!!  
> I loved writing this chapter, leave some comments to tell me if you liked it ! I'm officially on holiday (it sucks in here, we have no snow...)now so that's why i update this often. I'll try to post more chapters in the following days !  
> Go and check the mastepanova move out, it's incredible! That's why i love gymnastics so much...  
> Hope you liked this chapter! (and i hope you're having snow where you are...christmas without snow isn't christmas imma right?)  
> Stay beautiful!


	8. Count me in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lot of talking mostly. Cute/awkward moment between Lucy and Bucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry christmas guys!

“I inform you that the Avengers will be waiting for you in the meeting room in 10min” JARVIS said.

“Why?” Lucy asked worriedly, from the bathroom. She had left the gym half an hour ago and had decided to take a shower.

“You’ll know soon enough Miss.”

“Very helping JARVIS.” Lucy rolled her eyes. If the Avengers wanted to see her, then she had to pull on some clothes. They consisted of black jeans and a white boat neck top, bright blue socks and sneakers. She brushed her short hair and looked at her wrists. The training had reddened the little scars but all was healing fine, along with the cuts on her arms. She came out of the bathroom when she heard a tap on the door. She frowned in suspicion.

“Come in!”

A broad shouldered man stood at her door, with long dark hair. He wore black sweats and a black tee shirt. His left arm was behind his back. And he looked quite awkward.

“Oh hi Bucky!” Lucy’s face lightened when she recognized the man.

“Hi.” He just stood there. She waited a moment, thinking we was about to say something. But he said nothing.

“Um…Why are you here?” Lucy asked awkwardly. She mentally slapped herself for that.

“Stark sent me to lead you to the meeting room. Everybody is waiting for you.”

“Well I’m ready.” Lucy took a deep breath and approached him but suddenly stopped and looked down at something. “Is there something wrong with your arm?” she asked worriedly. Bucky froze and looked at his left arm he accidently stretched to grab the door knob. Looking at his reaction she realized her faux-pas. _Bad move. You’re such an idiot_.

“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have asked. I’m sorry.” She started to ramble and to blush. The ghost of a small smile appeared on Bucky’s face.

“It’s okay.” He said looking down at his left hand and moving his fingers with a whirring sound. “I should have told you. See? It’s mechanical. I understand you’re scared of it.” His last statement had been said with such hurt that Lucy’s expression immediately softened. Slowly, as if not to frighten him, she approached him.

“I’m not scared.” She reached out timidly to touch his arm. He looked like he was going to draw back, but he stepped closer. _You don’t know what I’ve done with this arm Lucy_ …he thought. Lucy ran her fingers gently up the metal plates in wonder. She looked up at him.

“So…it's... your arm?” He shook his head.

“This is it. It's a pretty good substitute.” She traced where the veins should be and he let her do. She took his hand in hers and she ran her fingers on his palm.

“It’s…amazing.” She snapped out of her trance. This was an odd time for a second of intimacy with a stranger even if that stranger did save her. “So um…” she cleared her throat and dropped his hand, stepping back, kind of embarrassed. “Shall we go to that meeting?”

He stepped just outside the bedroom doorway to allow Lucy to go ahead before closing the door in a very gentleman-y way. They walked in silence on the way to the meeting room. It was kind of an awkward silence, none of them knowing what to say. Every so often their eyes would drift towards the other, and would snap back to center in a matter of seconds. Both had actually grown curious about each other and a hundreds of questions were crossing their minds but they refused to admit it. He led her down the hall to what ended up being a meeting room. They entered, and found themselves in a room surrounded by people. They must have looked really uncomfortable next to each other at that moment because she heard Clint whisper “Awkward awkward…” before being slapped by Natasha.

Lucy first instinct was to try to hide behind Bucky but thought better of it and tried to show a little confidence, an illusion of someone being in control. She recognized Wanda and Pietro and waved warmly at them. She noticed that Thor and Loki were here too. She knew everyone in this room except for the joyful black guy next to Steve. Tony nodded at her as they walked in.

“Lucy welcome.” He seemed to be thinking an instant before adding “Or should I say Best Gym Girl!”

“Best Gym Girl?” Lucy asked, taking the seat Bucky pulled out for her. She thanked him and he sat down across from her, next to Steve. She turned back at Tony. ” Please tell me that’s not my code name…”

“Hoho our newbie already wants a code name!” Tony exclaimed, opening a bag of dried fruits and putting one in his mouth. “First you gotta join the team kid. Like Sam did.”

“Who’s Sam?” Lucy asked frowning. Before the actual Sam could answer, Tony squeezed his bag and made a dramatic sound. “C’mon Gym Girl ! Are you kidding me? Sam is the handsome guy over there, next to Steve, aka The Falcon.” He said pointing at Sam.

“Nice to meet you.” Sam said.

“Hi. You have a cool code name.” Lucy said, crossing her arms.

“Well his not the one. I’m Iron Man –but you already knew that-, there’s Star-Spangled Steve, Hawkeye, The Hulk –sorry Bruce-, Black Widow, Thor and Loki don’t need any code names and The twins over there are calling themselves Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, but I’m they’re giving me complex so just call them Wanda and Pietro.” Tony finished his tirade. Lucy saw Pietro stick out his tongue at Tony while Bruce was readjusting his glasses nervously.

“Does Bucky have a code name too?” She asked. Everyone kind of went silent like they didn’t want to tell her.

“Yes I do. It’s the Winter Soldier.” He turned and looked right at her. Lucy inhaled quickly. She had heard that name before, in that Hydra base but this name had always been clouded in mystery, she hadn’t been sure it was real. Well now she was. “So…you’re…you’re real?” He nodded.

She took a few seconds to replace the memories in her mind,putting her head in her hands, making order in her train of thoughts. _He’s real._ _They had talked about him in front of me when I was with them. I was meant to retrieve him once they had “wiped” me_. All was beginning to make a bit of sense. She nodded back. “Okay then.”

“That’s…it?” Steve asked, looking at her curiously.

“Well he’s at Tony’s tower, surrounded by a bunch of heroes not to say the mightiest heroes on Earth, and he did save me. Plus, he pulled my chair for me. You’re keeping him for a reason I assume.” She shrugged.

Clint looked at Steve. “She took that well.”

Lucy cast a glance at Bucky, one that said _It’s not over, I want some explanation. Later_.

Tony looked around. “Alright everyone, let’s get to the point of that cute meeting.” Lucy shifted uncomfortably on her chair.

“Lucy” Bruce spoke to her to a gentle voice from the other end of the table. She snapped to attention. “You must be wandering why you have been called.”

“You know we have been running some tests since you arrived. We’ve studied your file or at least, the informations we have on you.” He continued. Lucy was listening attentively but she didn’t get the point on what Bruce was saying.

“We said at first that you needed to stay at the tower because of your security. Well, actually we might be needing you…you’re actually invaluable.” Clint said.

“Invaluable?” Lucy parroted him, “What do you mean?”

“We search for extraordinary individuals. We work together. You know the Avengers stuff.” Tony piped. “A mighty team in a big bad world.”

“Yeah you’re superheroes.”

“Well what do you think you are?” Natasha asked looking at her.

“You know what I am. A mutant, who can morph into a mountain lion?”

“Your gift is priceless. If we can make the best of your mutation, if we can get you master it in a fight way do you realize how valuable ally you’d be?” Bruce said very seriously.

“You’re asking me to join your team?”

“If you get where we need you to be, well yes.” Steve said

“We have to know the extent of your mutation, then work on it.” Bruce readjusted his glasses. “And we might be running out of time.”

“You don’t have to scare her Bruce.” Steve replied.

“No wait…why would you be running out of time?” Lucy asked confused.

“Some of the scientists who were in the base where we found you escaped. They managed to save some of their “work” on you.” Bucky dropped bluntly.

Lucy’s breath got caught in her throat. The team let the info sink in her mind. “They will keep doing it...” she murmured. Some memories from her past crossed her mind, people she knew, and now the danger creeping to them…She couldn’t let this happen. She felt her claws appearing and scratching the table. “We have to stop them.”They were all watching her, not knowing what to say.

“Are you okay Lucy?” Pietro asked worried. Lucy took a deep breath and retracted her claws from the table.

“Yeah I’m fine.” She said looking up at them. “Sorry for the table…”

“Nah it’s good. It gives her some style this way.” Tony waved of the problem, reassuring Lucy.

“So do you want to help us save the world?” Clint asked.

“Count me in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So hope you liked it, i think it was important to put some dialogue at some point in the story. Please comment! I'd like to know what you like,what you dislike, so i could improve my writing!  
> Love you <3


	9. How to train your mutant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title says it all.  
> Charles Xavier's school is mentioned, the X-men universe may be a part of the story...  
> The team is aware of the odd behavior of their super assassin towards Lucy...

_Two weeks later_

It has been intense days for Lucy. She had trained most of the time, with Natasha and Clint mostly, alone too. The Avengers wanted her to be ready. She was becoming stronger, capable of shifting into an animal then back into a human in the same a fight. The team was trying to bring her best assets out to work on them. Natasha was very proud of her; she had seen that Lucy was really focused on being the best at what she was doing. She had talked about it in front of her teammates.

“Lucy tries her best for hand to hand combat but that’s not her strong point. She encounters difficulties with fire weapons, she really doesn’t like them. My guess is – from what I observed- Lucy would be great at ambush, sneaking, being the more silent possible and then strike. That’s her. We have to improve these qualities” Natasha diagnosed, arms crossed, as she was looking at the other Avengers.

“And how will you do that if I may ask?” Loki deadpanned from his corner.

“I admit I have no experience with mutant training” Natasha started “but I’m sure you have an idea _Loki_.” Natasha cocked an eyebrow at him, smiling slyly.

“Whoa whoa we’re not letting The freak suggest something for Lucy. Nuh huh. Never good to listen to him. He has bad ideas. He’s bad.” Tony began to ramble frenetically.

“Calm down Tony. My brother could help. And he didn’t suggest anything yet.” Thor stepped in the conversation.

“ _He_ has a name. I’m still here remember?” Loki rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“Step out of it The freak.” Clint said. He turned towards Bruce. “Banner? Any idea how to train Lucy’s abilities?”

The doctor shifted uncomfortably, everyone watching him. He cleared his throat and looked down to Lucy’s file.

“The tests have been running indeed show that Lucy’s balance, agility, stamina along with her reflexes and reaction are enhanced due to her mutation. I’m certain if she gets the proper training, she’ll greatly improve her physic state and her gift.” He looked up at the team and shook his head.”However, I don’t know how to do it…We could always send her to…well you know who I’m talking about.”

Everyone in the room frowned and shifted uncomfortably.

“No I don’t know who you’re talking about.” Bucky replied, quite frustrated. He didn’t like the reaction of the others and he wasn’t ready to let Lucy go anywhere for the moment.

“Oh of course-“ Bruce said awkwardly “well I’m talking about Charles Xavier and his school for young gifted- in other words, mutants-, like her.”

“We agreed not to interfere into one another business.” Tony cut him off. “We are on our own on this one.”

Everything went silent for a few instants, each one deep in thought. Then Sam turned towards Steve along with the others.

“Well Cap, whatcha say? What do we do?”

Steve sighed and crossed his arms. “Loki what’s your plan?”

The twins frowned and Tony’s mouthed dropped while Clint eyes widened. The others turned their heads expectantly toward The Trickster.

Loki smirked. “I know exactly what to do.”

~

_Two days later_

“Today you’ll be fighting Loki, Bucky and myself.” Steve said coming in the huge training room, followed by Lucy, Bucky and at last, Loki who was only wearing his black leather pants and some dark green shirt with a sleeveless black leather jacket.

“How? In the same time?” Lucy asked, coming in the huge training room. Obstacles have been installed everywhere, half-walls, large blocks, rails,…She looked around her and added “Parkour? That’s my training?”

“Yes and no.” Bucky answered. Lucy frowned, confused and Bucky smiled. “Today we’re gonna train your ambush and agility skills that go with your mutation.”

Realization dawned to Lucy and her face lit up. “Great! But why are you here?”

“Like I said you’re gonna be fighting us. Like a real combat.” Steve replied from ahead. He must have felt her anxiousness because he added “Don’t worry Lu, I don’t have my shield, Bucky doesn’t have his weapons, and Loki well-“

“Loki will try not to use his magic against you” Loki smirked.

“Oh that’s how it is?” Lucy put her hands on her hips, grinning. “So how do we do this?”

“Loki will start with you. Loki, go easy on her. He’ll be trying to take you down. Your goal: hide, escape him and then strike.” Steve explained to Lucy who was listening attentively like a perfect student. At Loki’s name, she cast a teasing glance at him.

“Sounds fun.” She finally said, hiding almost perfectly how uncertain of this whole situation she was.

She took position on one end of the room while Loki went to the other. The rest of the team was watching the whole scene from above.

“Alrighty kids, go easy on each other. Actually Lu, you can rip this asshole’s thro- ow stop it Nat!” Tony had just been slapped on the back of his head. They heard some indistinct voices in the speakers.

“Loki please don-“ Thor spoke before being cut by his brother.

“Let me be Thor! Stop it already! All of you! I told you I won’t try anything dangerous on her!” Loki growled at his brother from the other side of the room.

“Oh that’s good to know.” Lucy whispered ironically. She readjusted her black sweatpants on her waist and neatened her light blue tank top.

Natasha gave the signal and the lights dimmed in the room. Loki didn’t lose time to start closing in. Lucy quickly took the left and hid behind a block. Her eyes adjusted, growing a tapetum lucidum behind each retina sending what scant light makes it through back into the eye. In the control room, one camera was focused on Lucy and Clint whistled to the transformation of her eyes. She felt an itch at the base of each ear, the form of the canals changing to allow more delicate, deliberate movement and the length and the shape of the shell adjusting to catch a lot more sound.

She faintly heard a rustling from Loki’s clothes to her right. _Damn he’s really fast!_ She rolled to her side and sprinted to her next hiding. Loki turned to see her little form coming out of behind a block.

“I saw you little mortal!” Loki said triumphantly, aiming his arm and shooting a small blast of magic towards her. It hit her right in the chest at the moment where she was throwing herself out of reach. She made a “Oomph” sound, as it knocked her into her back.

“You okay Lucy?” Wanda asked worriedly. But Lucy was already on her feet, quickly approaching Loki from behind.

He must have heard her footstep because he turned to face her at an incredible speed, already ready to shoot at her. With a gasp of surprise, she reacted fast and dodged the magic blast and kicked him in the face before vanishing from his sight.

“That’s how you wanna play it?!” Loki groaned, slightly grinning, rubbing his face.

Lucy was progressing far away from him but she could hear him approaching despite her speed. He finally caught her disappearing behind a half-wall. He shot her with a new magic blast, making her growl in frustration.

“How can you be so fast? And how do you always know where I am?” Lucy asked, catching her breath behind the obstacle, a few feet ahead from him.

“With all due respect Lucy, you’re very noisy. Like, you’re a stomping elephant.You make that too easy, it’s to believe you like being shot.” Loki heard Lucy say “I’ll give you some stomping elephant in the butt” and he grinned. He continued. “And in case you didn’t know I’m a god. Very few people can defeat me so don’t be sad if you don’t succeed.”

“Here goes the ego…” Lucy murmured, rolling her eyes. Then realization dawned to her and she blinked a few times. “You said you could easily hear me right?”

“From miles away.” Loki confirmed. “Shall we continue this little game or did I win?”

Lucy smiled to herself. “Oh no you didn’t win anything yet.” She knew how he could hear her. It was because of her shoes! She couldn’t be discreet as possible when her footsteps were loud because of the plastic soles. She quickly removed her shoes and her socks. She was now barefoot. She watched her feet as she felt a feline-like heel pad texture covering them. She kept the shoes with her. She had an idea. Above her, the whole team was holding its breath at Lucy’s move.

“What does she have in mind?” Pietro asked to himself.

“That’s some clever girl.” Natasha said proudly.

“I know these shoes are great but why couldn’t she just leave them there?” Tony asked confused.

“Sssh we’ll see.” Steve said. And everyone focused on the screen.

Down there, Lucy was improving her discretion. She was moving fast and in silence, she was getting around Loki. She threw one shoe to the opposite side of her current position and she hoped for Loki to react as planned. And indeed he did.

“What’s that?” he whispered surprised, approaching carefully the place he heard the noise. He didn’t get too far and shot a blast at the direction of the noise but nothing happened. He turned quickly and Lucy hid behind a half-wall. She could hear his breaths. Loki began to get around the wall, and Lucy, realizing what he was doing, climbed silently on the top of it, ending on a crouched position above him. She threw the other shoe just a few meters in front of him and the time he realized where the shoe came from, Lucy jumped onto him as he turned around with a surprised expression. She landed directly on him and they both fell and rolled on the ground a few times. Lucy was the first to stand up, laughing triumphantly.

“Gotcha ! You didn’t see that coming! Yey I won!” Lucy was jumping in excitement. “Did you see me? I got him!”

“Well done Lucy!” was the team response. They were all very proud of her.

“I let you win!” Loki snorted, getting up. “I could have reduced you into ashes long ago if I wanted to. And it’s not a true victory; you used your shoes how lame was tha-…”

Lucy turned to face him, smiling. “You don’t like losing don’t you? Should I thank you for not killing me? Thank you anyway. You’re right it wasn’t completely fair: I used my shoes –how unfair it is indeed- but you could hear me because of them!” Loki was still grumpy and crossed his arms. She lightly punched Loki’s shoulder in a “bro-ish” way.” C’mon whiney bag! I’ll be waiting for revenge! No shoes. Just me, my feet and you. You’ll show me how it’s done.”

“I look forward to it.” Loki smirked to the small woman in front of her. “And don’t call me that.” Lucy stuck out her tongue at him in answer. To Natasha, Bruce and Thor, they just looked like two teenagers messing around in high school.

“Well well, good job Lucy. But will you be able to keep up with two highly trained super soldiers?” Tony said cheerfully in the speakers.

Steve and Bucky came in the room again, whispering to each other, replacing Loki, who was leaving it. Once again, Natasha gave the signal, after each one had positioned himself.

Steve and Bucky had started from two different corners and were planning on surrounding Lucy. Guessing their plan, Lucy ran towards the centre, quick as lightning, and climbed on a half-wall as Steve was coming over the area. He didn’t see her so she silently let herself fall to the ground, to the other side of the obstacle. She listened to a few instants. Steve was a few meters to her left. But she had no idea where Bucky was. Probably far to the right. She morphed into a mountain lion before creeping out from her hiding. Steve wasn’t suspecting anything, scanning what was in front of him. He didn’t know the threat was coming from behind…A few meters behind him, she morphed back into a human and put her claws on his neck, resulting him to gasp in surprise.

“You’re a dead man Steve.” Lucy murmured in his ear. He raised his hands in surrender and turned to face her. Her eyes were sparkling in the darkness.

“Cap’s out of the game!” Tony exclaimed in the speakers.

“Sorry Buck, she got me!” Steve said sheepishly. Bucky was wise enough not to answer. He was more cautious than Steve and was looking everywhere, making –almost- no sound. Lucy’s brain and body went on hunter mode once again. She slowly crawled towards the direction of the nearly imperceptible whirring sound of his metal arm. She could hear him breathing. It was steady and even, he was focused. Lucy hid behind a block on his right, only a few meters away from him.

He was approaching…slowly…before he could make another step forward, she jumped out of her hiding and attacked him by surprise, pinning him to the ground with her paws, her feline body on his chest. But he rolled over, dragging her along. Morphing back, she actually squealed in surprise. With a lot of struggling, Lucy managed to free herself from his hold. In the meanwhile the lights switched on.

Getting on their feet on the same time, Bucky tried to sweep Lucy off her feet, but Lucy dodged it with a back handspring. She tried to punch him in the face but he easily deflected her arm. They respectively blocked and dodged each other kicks for a few instants. And then they both stopped their fighting choreography, panting, Lucy’s clawed arm and Bucky’s metal one aiming directly at each other’s face.

Lucy grinned with one of her biggest smiles, catching her breath. “Did you see that?!”

Bucky relaxed and Lucy’s heart leaped as she watched a small smile inch across the Soldier’s face. “Not bad.”

Steve laughed as Lucy couldn’t help but blush and cast her eyes downward. He had approached in time to watch the entire scene and he had to admit that he never saw Bucky so focused and enjoying a fight since a long time. And he started to think that Lucy had her part in it…

He must have zoned out at some point because when he snapped out of it he realized Bucky and Lucy were talking. Actually making a conversation. He couldn’t believe it.

“You still need practice in order to protect yourself.” He was saying.

“I know you could have stopped me and took me down whenever you wanted from the moment I jumped on you.” Lucy replied. “But it was fun anyway. And I can tell you you’re scary as crap when you fight! And when you rolled over me, I wasn’t suspecting anything! And when I almost clawed your throat but you dodged it the last second! It was incredible!”

And now Bucky was truly smiling at Lucy’s excited rambling. She was so full of life, he couldn’t help but smile. She was speaking to him like he was someone exceptional. It felt good actually…

In the control room, everybody had left, except for Natasha and Clint who were talking strategy until they saw what was happening down there.

“Come on Buck. Enough training for Lucy for today!” Steve said.

“Wait what no! Bucky said I was still needing practice and I’m not even exhausted an-“ Lucy started, even if the last part was not true at all: she was pretty spent actually.

“Hey stop rambling. Get moving.” Bucky interrupted by placing his flesh arm on Lucy’s shoulder to push her towards the door. "Steve's right you know." Lucy’s eyes widened.

Steve shrugged to the duo getting in the elevator but couldn’t help but smirk as he followed his friend and Lucy through the door. Clint waited until the doors slid shut before looking at Natasha in amazement.

“Tash, didya see-“

“Yes.”

“But he never touches-“

“I know.”

“And how he smiled to her! He never smiles!"

“I know.”

“Well, what does it mean??”

The redhead crossed her arms and pondered on Hawkeye’s words for a moment. “Probably nothing…I’m…not sure.”

Clint practically started to giggle in the control room. “Just wait until the rest of the team finds out her influence on him. I saw it from the beginning!”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” But in fact, she was suspecting something, from back on the day they had met her awake, the way Bucky had looked at her…

“Just imagine! Bucky and Lucy sittin’ in a tree…..”

Natasha hit him on the arm to silence his singing, but found herself humming the same song.  

“I hate you.”                                                                                          

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So? How did you find the chapter? Please tell me your thoughts! Comments are needed! And thank you for the kudos it really makes my day!  
> I really love Loki/Lucy chemistry.  
> I wish you a happy new year, full of joy, love and success in whatever you do!  
> P.S: Sorry for the mistakes if there's any. I own nothing except for Lucy.
> 
> Love you


	10. Threats and questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year my lovelies !

_New-Jersey, Hydra base._

A frustrated woman was pacing the meeting room. She was literally fulminating. Her long nearly white blonde hair, pulled up in a ponytail, was bouncing on each side of her shoulders at each step. Suddenly she stopped and turned sharply towards the room of agents and scientists.

“I handed _her_ to you _on a silver platter_!” she barked at the scientists. “ _All_ you had to do was getting results on her mutation! And you’re not even able to do the job correctly…You’re a shame!”

The scientists cast their eyes down and some shifted uncomfortably. The blonde woman continued her tirade.

“And you” she said pointing at the agents “have you forgot how to use firearms? Are you all stupid?”

“With all due respect Missy, you weren’t out there fighting the Aveng-“ an agent started justifying the whole thing. That was before the blonde woman let her hand fly back and slap him violently on the cheek.

“It’s Miss Kovalsky to you.” She gritted her teeth. “I don’t care if it’s the Avengers or not. You had to guard the mutant and you did not. I blew up my cover for nothing! And the team in charge of bringing her back miserably failed.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, deep in thoughts, like she was scheming something. Suddenly, the door opened, revealing a large and unfriendly agent. Miss Kovalsky immediately approached him.

“Rumlow! What do we got?” she asked.

“As you know the mutant had been rescued by the Avengers and is now staying with them. If only we could get her, we would be able to finish the tests…we’re on the verge of succeeding.” Rumlow said. “And if we succeed, we could bring the Asset back.”

A sadistic smirk appeared on Miss Kovalsky’s pink lips.

“Imagine…The brand new army of Hydra, composed only of mutants, all the lone mutants we could have found, with no free will and wiped to obey, as supreme weapons.” Miss Kovalsky whispered with a crazy look in her ice blue eyes. “The first one will be Lucy. The witless girl should have stayed with her people…Too bad. Now she’s ours.”

_Stark tower._

That night, Lucy literally slept like a log. She had never been this tired since a long time. Before closing her eyes, she had thought of the day, looking at the ceiling from her king size bed. And what a day! She had never felt this useful with her gift. The team had been amazed by her powers and she was happy to make them proud. She had really liked her training session with Loki, Steve and Bucky. She figured Loki and her liked ragging on each other.

 _We’re always teasing and throwing witty comebacks at each other! Steve’s like the good friend, always calm and always there for me. And Bucky…_ she closed her eyes and let out a happy sigh and smiled, daydreaming. Then she frowned a bit. _He still owe me some explanation about that “Winter Soldier” thing…_ she thought, before dozing off in a dreamless sleep.

She woke up early in the morning, around 6.30am. She had heard footsteps behind her door and in the morning, she could be awakened by anything, due to her natural acute sense of hearing. As soon as it started, it stopped. No sound. She opened her eyes, and after a fight with her blanket, she got out of bed. She neatened her pajamas which was basically a large WWP “believe in heroes” under armour dark red shirt (everybody in the tower support this program, especially Steve, Tony and Sam. The shirt was a gift from him) and black shorts and walked towards the door.

She silently opened it and looked at both sides attempting to see who it had been. _They’re all so strange in this tower._ She was about to close the door when she looked down in front of her. At her feet, was a crumpled piece of folded paper. Arching an eyebrow she bent down to grab it and opened it.

_“Lucy, I know you’ve trained a lot these past few days but I thought you could use some more. It will be different this time. If you’re in, meet me at the second training room of the training floor at 6.45am. P.S: Hope you slept well and that you aren’t angry of me waking you up. Bucky”_

Lucy smiled re reading the note. He knew she would wake up. She figured they aren’t a lot of things Bucky didn’t know. But she wondered what had gotten into him. _And of course he knows I’ll come!_

She quickly changed into workout clothes, grey yoga pants and a white and green tank top, and grabbed her sport duffel bag (there were a lot of useful things in it) before heading towards the elevator.

He was already waiting there, outside the room, his back against the wall. When he saw her coming out of the elevator he approached her and proposed to take her duffel bag. That made Lucy smile.

“That’s very sweet of you Bucky” she said and Bucky liked how his name sounded in her mouth, “Are you redeeming yourself for disturbing my slumber?” she asked in a teasing tone. Bucky shrugged next to her.

“I figured you’d wake up anyway. And I knew you’d come.” He said simply. “And you seemed to have some troubles with that duffel bag.” That wasn’t true but she ignored it, enjoying the fact that Bucky didn’t want to admit he’s a gentleman.

“So…What are we going to do this morning?” she asked when they reached the second room. Instead of answering, Bucky pushed the door and opened it. Lucy came in first, followed by Bucky. In the sight of what was in there, Lucy’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped.

~

“You want to teach me how to shoot?” Lucy asked, taking the gun Bucky was handing to her in the range. She facepalmed in a _I didn’t deserve this_ way.

“Have you ever held a gun before?” Bucky asked instead.

“A real one like this one you mean? Never. I didn’t want to train with firearms with Natasha. She was pretty pissed.” Lucy said, looking down at the heavy gun in her hands. She breathed loudly, tightening her grip on the object. “And I hoped I’d never have to use one” she whispered, internally surprised she was having grudges at killing now.

 _She didn’t want to train with Natasha but she’s willing to train with me._ Bucky put his flesh hand on her delicate shoulder and gently squeezed it. “It’s for your safety. Fangs and claws won’t help you much when you’ll face enemy firearms. You can trust your gun to do the job.” The last sentence was said a bit bluntly, making Lucy let out a “oh”. He let go of her awkwardly and began explaining how a gun worked to wash away his tactlessness. Lucy was very attentive, observing Bucky as he showed her how to turn the safety off.

“Okay now, arms straight, eyes forward. I have to see what you’ve got on your own first.” He said finally, stepping back.

“What, you want me to shoot right now?” Lucy asked getting anxious.

“Well yes, that’s the goal.” Bucky replied, he didn’t understand why she was so nervous about this.

Lucy took a deep breath and positioned herself. _Come on that’s no big deal…_

“Ready? Pull the trigger and shoot!”

Lucy actually squealed when she pulled the trigger, the bullet shooting out nowhere near the paper target. Thank goodness the range was empty, otherwise the other agents would have taken the occasion to mock and make fun of her. They could be pretty mean –not in purpose most of the time. Currently, only Bucky was there and he wasn’t attending to do such thing.

“You can’t be afraid of guns” he said amazingly softly, making Lucy looked up at him.

“I don’t like them.” she muttered. She tried again a few times but it was a total failure. Bucky walked towards her and placed him just behind her, placing a foot in between Lucy’s legs. The static electricity around her made her heart flutter.

“Your stance was pretty good at the beginning. You need to be more confident about yourself. And never close your eyes.” he said in her ear. Lucy hesitantly nodded. She took position, ready to shoot. She was fixing the man-shaped paper target with an intense glare, but her raised hands, though holding tight on the gun, started to shake.

“You can do this Lucy.” Lucy felt Bucky lean into her more as he placed his palms flat on top of hers. “I’m right here. Shoot.”

And Lucy pulled the trigger another time. This time she didn’t scream when the bullet exited the gun because she felt secure in the Russian assassin’s strong arms. She took off her safety glasses and smiled as she saw that her bullet hit the paper target this time, surprisingly close to their mark.

She put the gun down and whipped around to face Bucky a genuine smile on her face, and both of them said nothing for a few instants, just staring at each other, light green eyes sinking into his icy blue ones. She blinked, ending the magic link between them. “You’re a good teacher do you know that?” she asked quietly, placing her hand on her hip.

 _That’s the Lucy I know. A confident and funny woman. What stressed Lucy when she had the guns in hands then?_ thought Bucky who awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand. “I’m not sure that’s not the first thing that comes into my mind when I describe myself.” he said darkly.

Lucy was rummaging in her duffel bag which was on a bench, not facing Bucky who was still standing in the range. “One day, a nice guy told me “you need to be more confident about yourself”. You should try it sometimes.” He could say she was smiling and it was contagious.

She heavily sat down on the bench with a sigh. She patted the place next to her for Bucky to sit. “Are you gonna stand there forever?” she teased. Bucky awkwardly sat down a bit far from her, but he did not stay alone on his corner very long as Lucy smoothly and silently slid on the bench to get next to him. She had opened a packet of skittles and handed it to Bucky without looking at him. She waited for him to hesitantly grabbed one before withdrawing her hand and put a red skittles in her mouth. The silence stretched for a moment but there were too much questions on each other minds that Lucy finally broke the silence.

“Err Bucky? Can I ask you something? You don’t have to answer of course but I need to know it’s important to me and if you don’t answer it will be a kind of answer anyway-“ Lucy rambled quickly before being cut by Bucky who rolled his eyes.

“Ask the question already!”

Lucy said nothing for another minute.

“Can you tell me about the Winter Soldier?” she asked quietly, almost ashamed of the question, looking straight in front of her. She regretted her question when she felt Bucky immediately tense next to her. She risked a glance at him and saw his clenched jaw and his hard glare.

“I don’t want to talk about this.” Bucky growled, clenching his metal fist, avoiding Lucy’s eyes, taking her aback. But not for long, as Lucy quickly composed herself.

“What were you doing with Hydra? I heard them talk about the Winter Soldier and the Asset back there…And you don’t want to tell me?” she asked confused.

“Stop it Lucy…”he warned.

“I need to know!” she insisted anyway.

Bucky abruptly stood up and was about to reply when a loud alarm rang through the entire building. Lucy turned to him questioningly. “What’s that?”

“We’re being summoned. Guess we have job to do.” he said darkly and heading toward the door without looking behind. Lucy quickly packed her stuff and silently followed him.

~

The Avengers were all gathered in the meeting room. It appeared that an English supply ship carrying weapons had been taken over Russian forces that had hacked it and took control over it around the Pacific Ocean.

“Where did the Intel come from?” Clint asked.

“It was a distress call from a cell phone. Russian agents dressed in black parachuted onto the ship and hijacked it with assault rifles. We aren’t sure how many they are…at least twenty from what we saw on the video clip…probably more. It was very confusing, with people shouting everywhere and gunshots on the deck…either the crew is dead or they took hostages.” Steve summed up the situation.

“So Hydra needs weapons…why?” Sam frowned. He seemed a little out of breath, that’s because he was running when they called him.

“They’re probably plotting something. Something big.” Tony said, crossing his arms. “When do we leave Cap?”

“As soon as possible. Suit up and get ready.” Steve told them all. The team nodded in silence.

“What about Lucy?” Wanda asked, turning toward her. Lucy had been trying to be as invisible as possible the whole time, not interfering with the Earth mightiest heroes’ mission. They all looked at her direction. Natasha shook her head along Tony.

“She’s not ready yet. She’ll stay here…and learn how we work.” Natasha said. Lucy looked at them and nodded. Wanda stepped closer to her before looking at Steve.

“We’ll stay here too. Pietro and I, I mean. I don’t think you need us on this one? So that she won’t be alone the whole time.” Wanda said, earning a smile from Lucy.

Steve glanced at the rest of the team for approval and agreed that the twins stay at the Stark tower, a mission like this one didn’t need all their forces.

“Loki will stay here too.” Thor said after a moment looking at his brother who was basically paying no attention at all to them. “He’s on high surveillance thanks to Heimdall and the Warrior three are ready to take action at any moment if he tries anything.” he reassured his teammates who had been making faces at him.

“I’ll better have him being bored and useless here than bored and useless on the jet.” Tony sighed. “So I guess we don’t have a choice.”

He clapped his hands together. “Alrighty guys, go get your shit and let’s go. Meet at the jet.” he waved them all away. They all came out of the room. At the moment Bucky was about to follow the team, Lucy called his name. He turned towards her, being the only one in the room beside him.

“Yeah?” he asked, blue eyes dark and brooding. At his sight, Lucy’s glare saddened.

“About earlier…I’m so sorry.” she said softly, risking a step towards him. “It’s just…it’s important to me.” She looked away for an instant. “But I shouldn’t have pushed you like that. It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me after all.”

Bucky said nothing, staring at Lucy as she apologized for something she didn’t have to. _Why are you apologizing for Lucy? You have every right to know about the Winter Soldier…About me. But I can’t…I don’t want to hurt you. The less you know the better…_ In the meantime, she had approached him and was now standing right in front of him. _She’s so small_ he thought eventually.

 _He doesn't say a thing..._ “All right. I know you have to go but…be careful okay?”

 That seemed to bring him back to the present because he smiled and looked at her in the eyes. “That’s not my first mission doll. No need to worry. I’ll be fine.”

 _Doll?_ She leaned up on her tiptoes to press a soft kiss on his cheek, Bucky’s eyes illuminating at her touch. She felt heat creeping on her cheeks.

“Go.” she whispered, lightly pushing him towards the door. He glanced one last time at her, to see her smiling at him. And he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
> I hope you enjoyed it, i liked writing this chapter. Please tell me your thoughts, leave a kudo, even a little comment really makes my day! Special thanks to diamondfilledsky. You're so sweet! So my holidays are over soooo that means a lot of work, sadly. I really hope i would be able to update as i did until now. Don't be upset if i don't :)  
> Next chapter will be intense!  
> Love you all!
> 
> Again, sorry for my mistakes. Again, i own nothing but Lucy.


	11. Day off for the teenagers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long gap between updates...*sigh*...school imma right?  
> I have a lot of ideas but it's hard to find time to write them down.  
> Feedback would be appreciated and more than welcome! This chapter is mostly filler but i think it's necessary.

_“Try not to destroy anything while we’re gone. You believe you can survive on your own for 2 days?” Clint said to the twins and Lucy. Loki was not far away from them._

_“Hilarious Clint…” Lucy replied rolling her eyes._

_“They’re some leftovers in the fridge. You have our number, call us if you have a problem. Don’t forget to wash your teeth and tidy your room, don’t watch tv to often it isn’t good for your young eyes and-“ Natasha said from behind Clint with a smirk on her face._

_“Clint definitely has some bad influence…” Pietro muttered._

_“Don’t you start mothering us Romanoff!” Wanda interrupted her, in a teasing tone._

_“That’s not a way to talk to your elder, young lady!” Tony got in the conversation, packing some stuff in the jet._

_“Anyway, don’t do any mess, don’t answer the phone when you don’t know who’s calling, don’t talk to strangers and actually don’t get outside alone while we’re gone.” Natasha continued, counting on her fingers._

_“Yes mommy “ Pietro dramatically sighed._

_“Uncle Clint said we could eat pizza everyday…And watch tv as much as we wanted to!” Lucy decided to get in the game, using her most childish voice. Natasha laughed and said “I’ll have a little talk with your uncle right away. That’s not a proper education at all…”_

_“Alright kids. That’s our cue to go. Be safe. See you in 2 days, maybe less.” Tony said from the jet. Everyone got in and they waved at the jet as it took off in the sky._

(present moment)

“What do we do now?” Pietro asked.

They were all sitting on the big couch in the living room.

“Wow, it’s so quiet without them.” Wanda murmured next to his brother.

“You’re damn right sis.” His sentence was followed by a new silence.

“What about breakfast?” Lucy suggested suddenly. They all seemed to come back to life at the sound of breakfast. They went to the kitchen and spent a good time eating and chatting with each other (well mostly the twins and Lucy, Loki isn’t the most talkative kind).

“Where are they now?” Lucy asked eventually, putting her hot chocolate on the table to sit next to Pietro.

“You know, it takes at least 7 hours to get there sooooo they’re probably above the ocean.” Pietro said, not looking up from his reading of the ingredient list on the cereals. “What’s trisodium phosphate?”

“Since when do you have any interest on what you eat?” Wanda asked from the bar. Pietro made a face.

“It’s a chemical substance found in toothpaste and hair coloring agents. And you often find it in food.” Lucy said grabbing a toast. Looking at the face the twins made at her she rolled her eyes. “What? I loved chemistry back in the time I was in school.” she smiled.

“Nerd.” Pietro said

Suddenly, Loki stood up from the corner where he was and headed towards the door without a word.

“Wait Loki where are you going?” Lucy exclaimed. “Why won’t you stay?”

“Don’t except me to stay with you. I’m in my room, where is silence.” And he was gone. Lucy was standing up to follow him but Pietro stopped her.

“ Don’t waste your time with him. The freak isn’t worth the trouble” he said grabbing her by her arm.

“That was mean Pietro. Why are you calling him The freak?” Lucy said as she sat down reluctantly. _You want me to call him asshole?_ he thought.

“Everyone calls him that. Well mostly Tony and Clint.” Wanda replied. “You must admit he’s a little bit strange no? He’s not like us.”

“Aren’t we all strange?” Lucy asked, “I mean, I’m a mutant, you’re enhanced, and the rest of the team is kind of weird, to say the least.”

“You know what I meant Lu.” Wanda poured some black coffee in her cup. “So you find Bucky weird?” she teased. Lucy froze and she felt heat creep on her cheeks. At the same time, Wanda brust into laughter.

“What? No!” Lucy screamed-whispered as Pietro crunched on his cereals loudly.

“Oh right, look I get it.” Wanda winked before going back to her coffee and Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Don't you dare reading in my mind."

They finished their breakfast shortly after and put all of the dishes in the sink for Lucy and Wanda to wash. Pietro wanted to go to gym to work out so he left them talking about girl stuff. Lucy and Wanda went to Wanda’s room. They spent a good time chatting about things and stuff, they enjoyed having a light-hearted conversation between women of the same age. Wanda was sprawled on the big couch while Lucy was sitting on the floor next to her.

“So are you gonna show me your powers? C’mon a little trick!” Lucy said eventually with a smile.

“I heard you didn’t like me reading your mind…” Wanda replied only to see Lucy’s reaction.

“Of course I don’t like it! Is it what you did back in the kitchen?” Lucy turned towards her. Wanda seemed to be thinking for a moment.

“No it was a simple guess. And my guess is probably true.” Wanda smiled, “I think you know what I’m talking about too.”

Lucy blushed and turned away, before clearing her throat awkwardly. “Don’t be absurd Wanda.”

Wanda laughed. “I don’t have to read your mind to know that. I can actually feel it! It’s so obvious, you got it bad for _him_ , the way you act when you’re around _him_ and the way _he_ acts when _he_ ’s around you and-“

“And you tell me you didn’t read my mind? Or _his_?” Lucy deadpanned. It was Wanda’s turn to look embarrassed.

“Well you know…Sometimes I can’t help it…” she waved off the problem, “you’re missing the point here!”

“We are just friends, like everyone else.” Lucy said finally. Wanda cocked an eyebrow.

“First step is denial!”

“Are you gonna show me your powers already?” Lucy changed the topic and Wanda left her do it. She threw a small blast of magic on the lamp across the room and enjoyed Lucy’s dumbfounded expression as it exploded.

“There. Now it’s my turn to ask you to do something about your powers.” she said.

“Fire away.”

That’s how Lucy ended up morphed into a mountain lion in Wanda’s living room, only to be petted and brushed by her while listening to pop music.

When lunchtime came, they both headed towards the kitchen. Pietro was probably still in the gym, doing heaven’s knew what. Instead of taking leftovers, they preferred cooking. Wanda taught Lucy how to cook beef Stroganoff with the traditional Smetana –which, Lucy learnt, was a sour cream- and serve it with potatoes sticks. Pietro joined them at some point, all sweaty and well, smelly. At the end of the meal, Lucy got up and started to prepare one more plate.

“You still hungry Lu? Who would’ve thought?” Pietro exclaimed, putting food in his plate for the third time. Lucy rolled her eyes.

“It’s not for me dummy.” she smiled, getting the cutlery, “And what “who would’ve thought” means anyway?” she cocked an eyebrow at him expectantly.

“Nothing, it meant nothing!”

“Be careful Pietro!” Lucy said, leaving the room with no other words.

~

Lucy asked Jarvis the way to Loki’s room, a steamy plate on a platter in her hands. She lightly knocked on the door, after a few struggles for not letting the platter fall.

“Loki? Let me in!” No answer. Lucy sighed. “Jarvis open the door for me.”

She found him sprawled on the sofa, reading a book, paying no attention at her at all. She bit back the nasty comments that were on the tip of her tongue and put on her best friendly expression instead.

She cleared her throat softy. “Hey Loki, I thought you’d be hungry so I’ve brought you lunch.” Finally he looked up from his book, and observed her a moment with a suspicious glare, as if he were surprised someone would do such thing for him.

“You didn’t need to do that.” he said bluntly.

“I’m aware of that.” she approached the sofa and put the platter put the platter on the long table next to it. _You could just say thank you_ she thought. Instead, she tilted her head to read the title of the book Loki was reading. “Macbeth? You read Shakespeare?”

He stayed silent for a few instants and Lucy feared that he wouldn’t answer. She could almost hear the gears turning in his head, while he was glaring at her. She sighed deeply and grinned at him.

“Why always so suspicious Loki?” she giggled nervously.

“I’m not suspicious” he grumbled as he sat properly and Lucy cocked an eyebrow at him, half-annoyed, half-amused. “And yes, Shakespeare is the only Midgardian author I find interesting.”

Lucy crouched down next to him and smiled. “I love him too. The way he writes it’s just beautiful…” she sighed, deep in her thoughts. “Eat while it’s still hot.” she drew back her attention on the present.

“You’re not my mother” he said but grabbing the platter anyway, “What is it anyway?”

“That, my friend, is a beef Stroganoff with potato sticks. A typical Russian dish if I may add.” she exclaimed, with a twirl of the hand.

“Well I wasn’t aware this dish existed” he sorted before putting some of it in his mouth. He couldn’t help but like its taste and he failed at trying to hide it from Lucy.

“You like it? I did it with Wanda. She’s really nice.” Lucy laughed when she saw Loki eat with such gusto. “Next time, come in the kitchen with us.”

“Why would I do that when someone cooks and brings me lunch for me in my room?” he asked, a mischievous smile itching the corners of his mouth as he watched Lucy’s chocked expression. She got up on her feet amazingly quickly and stormed out of the room with the grace of a queen as she shouted “Thou reeky fool-born lout!” shakespearian style.

~

It was nearly evening in Manhattan. Lucy had spent the afternoon watching Disneys with the twins and actually ending up watching the Lion King two times (“Such a great movie!” Lucy had exclaimed). Now it was early evening and she was sitting on the floor in the middle of her room. All was silent again, she was holding tight on the phone Stark had given to her the first day, looking at its screen. After what seemed to be an eternity, she flipped the calling button and put the phone on her ear. It wasn’t long before she heard a masculine voice answering.

“Lucy? Is that you? How are you and where have you been for heaven’s sake??? Why you didn’t answer to your phone? Have you-“ the male voice started to harrass Lucy with questions but she cut him off.

“Yeah it’s me dummy, stop rambling. I’m fine.” Lucy said softly, smiling at the sound of his voice, “I’ve missed you Kurt, I’ve missed all of you…How’s the school going?”

“We’ve missed you too you know. You got us worried to death! Xavier was devastated, he couldn’t know where you were. And where were you by the way? You simply vanished! I know you needed time to think the whole thing over but you didn’t have to shut us down Lucy.” Kurt accused.

“Listen Kurt… it’s a long story. You remember the day I stormed out of the school a few months ago? Xavier wanted me to move in the school to be a whole time student. He wanted me to give up on my life to become an X-man…he was saying it wasn’t safe for me out there where I was. Well he was right…That day I…I was kidnapped by Hydra.”

“Are you fuckin’ serious Lucy? You were kidnapped?“ Kurt interrupted her.

“When I tell you. I had been betrayed by who I thought was my best friend who had turned out to be Hydra…somehow they knew I was a mutant.”

”Where are you know? Tell me and we’re on our way to get you. You know damn well I can get to you in matter of seconds. Are you in danger? Are you-“

“Gee Kurt chill, I’m fine. The Avengers rescued me.”

Kurt was silent a moment.

“Kurt? Are you still with me?” Lucy asked worried.

“You’re with them.” he breathed out. Lucy rubbed her face with her free hand, sighing.

“Yes.” Lucy said confirming his affirmation. “Kurt please, stay out of this. All of you. I don’t want to be the motive of a war between the X-men and the Avengers.”

“As far as you’re safe with them I won’t say nothing…for now. I wouldn’t put too much trust in them Lucy. Be careful. They don’t understand us.” was his reply, ”How’s your mutation by the way? You can control it?”

“I’ll be careful, promise. My mutation’s fine, I’m slowly becoming more powerful. I don’t want them to know I’ve been in contact with Xavier’s school. But Kurt you have to promise me you’ll be careful too. Hydra knew I was a mutant, they may have us listed or…I don’t know.”

Kurt laughed. “Come on kitten, nobody could possibly catch me. But fine, I promise. I’ll come to see you, in person. Find a way to escape from them. Just to be sure you’re doing okay.”

This wasn’t a request, it was much like an order. Lucy sighed. _Kurt Wagner you’ll be the death of me_ she thought. “Fine. Tonight. At 9. On the roof of the Stark tower. I give you 5 minutes, then you’ll go. Savvy?”

Kurt grumbled in response. “Alright now, I’d better be off. It was nice hearing your voice Kurt.”

“See ya kitten.”

“See ya Nightcrawler.” Lucy hung up the phone. _Lucy, you’re in some deep cow crap._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So? How did you find it?  
> No worries, we'll see how things are going for The Avengers in the next chapter!  
> Love you, don't forget to leave a comment and/or a kudo ( i want you to talk to me!)


	12. Mutant o'clock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some action in the first part, some talking in the second part. Enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the long waiting, i feel so bad about it. But here a pretty long chapter to make it up :)

“You can say bye bye to your sneak attack Cap.” Clint snorted next to him. Indeed, Stark had just alerted all the Hydra agents present on the ship that they were here by shooting a big blast on explosives.

“Stark what did you do?” Bucky hissed into the mic. He and Natasha were on the deck below, making their way through the ship.

“I didn’t know there were explosives on that ship!”

“This ship transports weapons and munitions for the army, Tony, that means explosives too.” Natasha deadpanned as the alarm system turned on.

“Oh right. That makes sense.”

“Sam, Thor, Stark and I will take the upper deck. Clint, join Nat and Bucky on the deck below us. Search for survivors.”

The Hydra soldiers were so many, they kept coming like a flood. Soon enough, the combat sounds were roaring on the ship. The Russian super assassins were making their way down with a deadly efficiency, Hawkeye covering them, leaving a trail of dead bodies on their path. The soldiers opened fire and Bucky pulled out his gun to return the favor. They were in their element. He soon realized that the Black Widow was using him like a human shield, jumping out of her cover in the right moment to strike their opponent, Widow style.

“Keep up old man!” Tony exclaimed as he blasted a couple of Hydra soldiers who were fighting Steve. It was a huge cacophony of gunfire, explosions, lightning bolts (thanks Thor), and yelling everywhere.

“Shut up Stark.” Steve grunted and knocked an agent down with his shield. “On your left Sam!”

A soldier tempted to bore a hole in Falcon’s suit and they all heard gunshots into the mic.

“Man, warning me about my probable death is the only time you get to say “on your left” ever again.”

Steve chuckled. “Buck, did you find any survivor? How’s going down there?”

“If you stopped asking me questions Rogers, I may find something.” Bucky replied along with some swearing.

“Careful Frosty, Rogers doesn’t like that kind of language…” Tony teased.

“You know what Stark…” Steve grumbled.

“Guys we’ve found the hostages. Pretty shaken but definitely alive.” Natasha said simply. “Hawkeye how’s the situation?”

“No more goons to take down here. Thor?”

“I fried them all bird man!” Thor boomed.

“Well that didn’t take too much time…” Sam said. They all seemed thoughtful for a moment.

“Are all the members of the crew here?” Bruce suddenly asked. It was the first words he said since the all operation, for he had stayed in the jet, supervising. A long silence followed his words. On the room where the crew had been gathered, Natasha, Bucky and Hawkeye counted the members, questioning everyone about an eventual disappearance. And indeed there was a problem.

“Guys, Banner’s right. One person is missing. One had been killed.” Natasha finally said into the mic.

“He's name's Andrew Morgan.” Hawkeye added “From what the witnesses say, he’s been kidnapped by a small Hydra team when they attacked the ship. Stark, do we have data on him?”

“SHIELD got him listed apparently. Oh my. He was being monitored by them since he showed mutant abilities such as…mental domination? What the fu-“

“Language!” All the team cheered at the same time, except for Steve who was busy facepalming himself, as red as a tomato.

“Seriously? I’m trying to tell you that this man could overload another's mind causing pain, memory loss, lack of consciousness, vegetative state or death after having created a psionic link into that individual's mind! But apparently he was behaving so he was left in peace…maybe has been contacted by Xavier’s band though.” Stark said, viewing all the data they had on him on his mask screen.

“Why would Hydra want him? And how did they find him?” Sam asked.

“It happened the same to Lucy…” Steve said, thinking. “Hydra has an interest on mutants obviously.”

Bucky suddenly let out a growl and punched a wall next to him in anger (and made a big hole in it in the process) with his left hand before rubbing his face with the other.

“It will never end…”

Natasha gently put a hand on the frustrated soldier’s shoulder and squeezed it. “We’ll get them Sarge. They’ll pay for what they did.”

They had to stay to take care of the civilians and make sure everything was in order. Hydra had disappeared like dew on a June morning, leaving nothing behind them, except for the dead bodies spread over the ship. It was already late so they headed to England to contact the MI6 and inform them of what happened with their ship.

“Get some rest. We will be in London in 3 hours.” Clint said from the pilot cabin. Thor quickly dozed off on his sit. He was one of those people who could fall asleep not matter when or where. Practical. Bruce was listening to classic, eyes closed, Tony was with Clint. In the back of the jet, Natasha and Steve were talking quietly together.

“So, your pal. And Lucy. It’s a thing right?”

Steve coughed uncomfortably. “C’mon Steve. I’m not the only one who has noticed it. He’s not the same around her.”

“Who else has noticed?” Steve asked. Natasha rolled her eyes.

“In the training room when you practiced with Lucy, Clint and I noticed it. Wanda, probably saw it too. That girl seems to know everything on what’s going on in this tower at some point.”

Steve cast a quick glance at his friend. Bucky was oblivious of the conversation, testing his guns and polishing his various knives he was putting in line in front of him. “Yeah, Lucy definitely has a good influence on him. I know him, he’s going soft for the girl.”

Natasha suddenly moved and ended up in front of him, looking at him dead in the eye. “ I don’t know him as well as you do and even I can tell that. And that’s the problem, Steve. It may be nothing really. But I don’t like it. Bucky’s got a case of feelings. It will end badly.”

Steve gulped nervously. “For the moment, nothing happened yet. I’ll keep an eye on him, if that’s what you want.”

Natasha just shrugged in response and went away without a word.

~

Lucy was on top of the building, looking at the city from above. She could see it all, no one could see her. She watched as the neon lights switched on the streets, and lamps slowly illuminated the skyscrapers. Even at night, the city was so active, various noises everywhere to be heard. So full of lives. She wondered if there was a mutant out there in the crowd, anonymous, hiding his true nature as many others. She readjusted the blanket around her shoulders and put a Carambar in her mouth. _Where are they now? What they doing?_ Of course she was thinking about The Avengers.  The twins were off, playing Wii again. Well, maybe Wanda was doing something else while Pietro was playing video games. Reading probably. Or painting her nails in black. She didn’t know where Loki was since he disappeared right after the diner. Jarvis had assured her he hadn’t left the building so he should be somewhere eventually.   _8.58 pm_ 2 minutes left. Kurt was never late. The blanket had fallen again, so she readjusted it one more time. The night was slowly getting chiller. Looking at the cloudy sky, she could tell it would probably rain. Soon enough, she won’t ba able to see the stars and the moon anymore. Lucy loved looking at the moon… ***BAMF!***

“Surprise!”

Lucy squealed and tumbled on her back, the blanket definitely falling off.“Dammit Kurt! You nearly killed me!”

Kurt was laughing next to her.

“I just love scaring you. It’s hilarious.” Kurt approached her, smiling, extending his three-fingered hand to help her standing up. She took it without hesitation. “The best part is, you can’t hear me coming. Sneaky me!”

Lucy neatened her clothes, and Kurt stared at her a moment, getting a closer look at her. She was looking at him, in some comfy clothes, grey sweatpants and white pocket top, but he could tell she wasn’t completely the Lucy he knew. She was definitely more muscular, she looked less innocent and naïve than the last time he saw her. Experience. It changed her.

“What are you looking at?” Lucy asked. Something remained the same though: bright and teasing eyes.

“You changed.” he said bluntly. She frowned her eyebrows. _I think she knows that you stupid._ Change tactics.

“Yeah, I mean, did you shave of something? ‘Cause, memory serves me well, you were furrier than that.”

Lucy widened her eyes and put one hand on her chest in mock chock. “That’s not a way to talk to women!” She crossed her arms and locked her eyes with his. A thin layer of tawny fur soon covered her skin, her ear shape changing same as her nose and eyes which became even more wild and captivating.”There.”

Kurt smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. “That’s the true you.” He absently brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “You should know you’re prettier that way.”

“It still misses something.” Lucy said playfully. Her clawed hand traveled down her back and suddenly they heard the fabric of her pants tear apart. A long and thick tail rose from behind Lucy and Kurt burst in laughter, soon joined by Lucy.

“You’re impressive! We shouldn’t stay hidden; we should reveal our true natures. I mean, look at you!” Kurt said.

“Look at you! I couldn’t hold a candle to you. You’re blue.”

“No shit I’m blue. You’re furry.” Lucy smiled at that.

“One more reason not to do anything that could bring attention to me. Stay low.”

“You’re not fun at all do you know that?” They stared at each other for a moment and Lucy sighed.

“Alright _Nightcrawler_. Time’s up. I don’t want to be seen with you, not that I don’t like you"Lucy chuckled, "but I didn’t talk about my past with Xavier’s school to anyone here. They probably wouldn’t want me anymore and I need somewhere safe to stay.”

“Right. They told us some potential mutants that we’ve been tracing have gone missing. We’re doing our best to know what’s happening. Keep me posted.”

“Keep _me_ posted! And please stay safe. I don’t want Hydra to have any of you.” Kurt looked around and saw the bowl of Carambars.

“Wow are they French candies? From France?” Lucy laughed.

“Remind me of home. I hope my mom’s fine…take one if you want before you go.” Kurt took a Carambar and turned one last time towards Lucy.

“Yeah she’s okay, we’re looking after her. Bye kitten.” he waved goodbye at her, before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Lucy stayed a few instants on the edge of the building, enjoying the feeling of the wind on her face. The sky was now fully clouded; there will probably be a storm. She sharply turned around when she heard the door open.

“The twins were looking for you and here you are.” Loki was standing next to the door, hands clasped behind his back.

“Here I am.” Loki caught a sight of the glimpse of smoke left and was now starring at her as if there was something strange in her that he couldn’t figure out. “Am I disturbing you?”

Loki said nothing.

“I’m just gonna…return to normal.” she said, avoiding his glare. The fur was beginning to disappear, the tail to shrink when Loki held out a hand to stop her.

“No! You don’t have to.” Lucy stopped and her tail grew back again.

“I thought I was making you uncomfortable.” Lucy said looking back at him. “You know, very few people wouldn’t be disturbed by…all this. Call me a monster.” she said showing herself. “And sometimes it’s hard not to believe them.”

Before Loki could possibly reply, they heard thunder quickly followed by lightning. Lucy grabbed all her things in few seconds and headed toward the door, going past Loki. Before leaving, Lucy turned toward him.

“But the acceptance of who you are is the key…I guess. Tell yourself you worth something.” Lucy sighed. “Don’t stay here too long, it’s gonna rain. Goodnight Loki.” And she left, leaving Loki speechless. _Accept who you are._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how did you find it? The second part was a bit harder to write so tell me if it isn't as good as the rest. I've got a lot of work these weeks, a lot of exams, it's really stressful and i unfortunately don't find the time to write as frequently as i did until now. Please bear with me! I'm so grateful for all of you.  
> A cute comment (or even a constructed critic) would be appreciated, really!  
> And please, leave a kudo!!!!  
> I love you all <3
> 
> And as always i do not own Marvel or anything related to it. Only Lucy.


	13. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically Lucy has a hell of a nightmare and things happen. Enjoy !

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> Again, i'm sorry for the waiting, i hate my school so much right now. Two awful weeks left and it's holiday for me yey!  
> I'm very uncertain about this chapter, i don't know why but tell me how you found it :)
> 
> Edit: I'm going on vacation to visit my grandparents and sadly, there is no wifi there. i'll be cut out from civilization for one week, i come back next saturday ( 27th). But if you're good, i may come back with two more chapters... bye guys i love you (and thanks for the kudos!!!) !

She tossed her blanket and sweets on a chair nearby. In the silence and the darkness of the room, she changed in pajamas, quickly brushed her teeth and slumped in her bed. Sometimes thunder would be heard and lightning would illuminate the room for a few seconds before leaving it dark again.

“Jarvis?” Lucy turned her head from the pillow and looked at the ceiling.

“Yes miss?” The good thing with an A.I, is that it doesn’t need to rest. Available 24/7. Awesome.

“Where are they now?” She really missed them. That was her problem, she always got attached to people, and then she couldn’t stop worrying about them, and missing them.

“Mr Stark informed me that they left London half an hour ago. They are disturbances over the ocean tonight and they risk taking more time than usual.”

Lucy saw the raindrops trailing down the bay window, and even with the loud sound of thunder outside, she fell asleep pretty quickly.

~

_Note- Test Subject 175 unresponsive at 40% of capacity. No morphological modification. Due to the Subject’s flexibility, a tightening of the restraints must be done before the continuation of the procedure. Test at 50%._

_It hurt so much, all she wanted was the pain to stop, escape from their wicked experimentations. She growled when they tightened her restraints on the table. But then again, electric current slammed through her body, even more painful than before. The electricity tightened all her muscles. She let out a long cry of anguish until it finally stopped._

_Note- Test Subject 175 showing signs of morphing. Vitals still relatively stable. Increase of the capacity to 60%._

_Piercing pain ran jagged down her body. She didn’t have control over it anymore as she screamed, tears rolling down her cheeks. She didn’t even feel her body change for the pain overwhelmed her and wouldn’t go away._

_Note- Project Mutant has been a success. Test Subject 175 has officially shifted in its hybrid form._

_She finally managed to crack her eyes open and tried to turn her head, a shuddering moan escaping her dried lips. Her eyes focused on the scientist approaching her, a smirk on his face. A tear rolled down her cheek._

_“Now now, you wouldn’t want to mess that little fur of yours, love. You made yourself valuable.” He passed a finger on her cheek to dry the tear. In the room, there were three maybe four more scientists scribbling on their notepads, checking her vitals, recalibrating the material,…They were all smiling, shaking hands after their success. Lucy’s vision was blurred by pain and exhaustion but at the look at the scientist next to her, satisfaction and madness plastered on his face, patting her thigh she felt a dull rage rising. In her despair, she wished she could simply dig her claws in his neck, she could simply rip their throats and make them pay…_

_The door opened and though she was too weak to react, she recognized the footsteps of the person approaching her. No not her…she whimpered, pulling weakly on her too tight restraints. Irina Kovalsky, her former best friend._

_“Well look at you! You’ll be a precious element in my new team. You’ll be a great asset, killing for a cause beyond your belief. Don’t worry you won’t even know you’ll be doing it…for even mutants can be tamed, am I right Lucy?”_

_Irina laughed and turned toward the scientists and shot her left arm into the air and shouted the name that’ll haunt her dreams._

_“Hail Hydra!”_

_She screamed and pain blinded her._

_~_

As usual, Bucky couldn’t sleep this night after coming back to the Tower. He had been lying on his bed, lost in his memories when he heard thrashing and screaming coming from the room next to his. _Lucy’s_. He jolted out of bed and ran to her room.

The door of her bedroom flung open. Bucky scanned the room and found Lucy tangled in her blanket, meters away from her bed in a corner of the room, sobbing and rocking back and forth, hands covering her ears. He quickly knelt next to her.

“Lucy! Lucy can you hear me? Lucy!” A lightning struck, too loud for Lucy to hear him over it. At the sound of it, Lucy let out a pained cry and curled into an even tighter ball.

“No please! Please stop! No!” She was repeating over and over.

“Lucy! You need to wake up! Lucy!” Bucky didn’t know what to do, it was him usually having nightmares. He grabbed Lucy’s shoulders to stop her rocking, murmuring soothing words to her.

_The wicked scientist was about to experiment on her again, to please Irina. She couldn’t let that happen again…the scientist grabbed her to inject a vial in her arm…_

Suddenly, so suddenly that Bucky hadn’t seen it coming; she opened her eyes, freed her hands from Bucky’s grip and jumped on him with a feral growl.

“Don’t touch me. Ever. Again.”

Irina and pain were all over her mind. These scientists were here to experiment on her again but she wouldn’t let them near her ever again. She wanted to make it stop.

Bucky let out a gasp when she brutally crashed into him, throwing him on the ground. Her eyes were opened, pupils dilated, blinded by pain and rage,but lost in her nightmare. He didn’t have time to react that she was trying to claw him. She reached for his face and left a few long cuts on his left cheek, causing him to grunt. She was a fury. But he had fought worse. He seized her and held her so tight against his chest that she was unable to move.

“Easy Lucy, you’re safe here. You’re safe. Easy, easy, it’s okay now. It’s okay.“ he soothed to her ear, as she was shaking and whimpering in his chest. She finally calmed down and morphed back, letting the tears flow, only rarely wincing when thunder was heard.

“B-Bucky?” she sobbed, her voice muffled by his wet shirt.

“I’m right here. It’s okay Lucy.” She felt his chest vibrate when he spoke. “Are you with me doll?”

Lucy nodded and lightly pulled back away from him, wiping her eyes and sniffling grossly. Bucky stayed silent all this time, not wanting to push her. She passed her hand through her hair, still avoiding his eyes. Then, looking at the storm outside, she let out a shaky and nervous laugh.

“Lightning and electricity make very bad dreams…who would have known?” she muttered and Bucky noticed the slight tremor in her voice. She finally fully noticed his presence in the room and jerked her head in his direction.

“Bucky? Bucky why are- My God you’re bleeding!” She choked the last words, drawing a trembling hand to touch his face but thinking better of it at the last moment. Bucky’s hand flew to his bloody cheek. “I did that to you…”

“Lucy it’s-“ Bucky didn’t have the time to answer, Lucy was already standing up and going to the bathroom.

“Stay here.” she said. In the bathroom she quickly grabbed the first aid kit from beneath the sink, holding back her tears. _I hurt him_. _I literally clawed him._ When she returned in the bedroom, Bucky was still sitting on the floor where she had left him. She pulled out some alcohol and some gauze. The cuts weren’t deep at all but they were quite long and blood was coming out easily.

“Lucy really it’s fine, I’m okay, everything’s okay now.” Bucky said as she pressed an alcohol swab against the wound.

“No, no it’s not okay…” she whispered, looking at what she was doing, “I hurt you Bucky, I- one of the scientists was grabbing me and I-I could have killed you and I-I’m sorry..”

Bucky smiled a little. “Oh no doll it takes more than you to kill me.” Lucy looked at him dead in the eye and he shrugged uncomfortably.

Lucy looked away and sighed. “I was aiming at your jugular, I really could have killed you. And I’m- I’m so sorry…” Tears were forming in her green eyes, once again. Bucky took her hand away from his now clean cheek and brought his right hand under her chin to gently make her look at him.

“Lucy, it was my fault, I shouldn’t have touched you in that state. No need to be sorry, I’m still here with my throat intact, thanks heaven for that. Everything’s alright now.” Lost in his blue eyes, all Lucy wanted to do in that moment was to believe him. Bucky stood up and in one graceful motion, scooped Lucy up in his arms like she was a feather, bridal style.

“C’mon now. Let’s go to sleep.” Lucy was visibly surprised but because of the nightmare with all the screaming and fighting she wasn’t thinking clearly anymore so she let him carry her to her bed like it was the most normal thing for him to do.

He gently put her down and brought the blanket back. Lucy said nothing and Bucky silently motioned towards the door when Lucy stopped him.

“Please can you stay?” she asked in a small voice. She hated how she sounded to her ears but she didn’t want to be alone, not after the nightmare. Bucky seemed to understand, because he came closer and awkwardly sat on a corner of the bed. Lucy smiled, even if it didn’t reach her glassy eyes.

“I’m not gonna claw you again I promise.” she said. Bucky looked at her blankly. She patted the place next to her for him to move closer. Bucky slowly stood up and then sat hesitantly on the side of the bed, leaning against the wall behind.

“You should sleep.” he said, not looking at her.

“I know but I don’t want to. I don’t want to get back there again.” was her honest answer. They stayed silent a moment. Finally Bucky shifted and made himself more comfortable on the bed.

“I owe you an apology by the way.” he said. Lucy looked at him from her pillow.

“Really? For what?”

“My behavior back in the range. When you asked about my past with Hydra-” Lucy was about to say something but Bucky cut her “-I wasn’t mad at you, I was mad at myself. I hate myself for what I’ve done and I didn’t want you to know that part of me...the Fist of Hydra. The Asset.” He didn’t notice he was twisting the sheet in his metal hand and that they were threatening to tear.

“If you don’t want to talk about this I’m not forcing you to-“ Lucy whispered, getting closer to him.

“You deserve to know. Until now you’ve been looking at me like I was a good man. But I’m not Lucy.” He needed to talk. Steve wasn’t always there and right now, he thought that Lucy had every right to know, for she had been likely to become a whole new kind of Asset herself.

“But first…Why didn’t you look for yourself my past with Hydra? I mean, now you have Google and all that crazy stuff…When I didn’t want to tell you…It would have been easy for you to ask Jarvis or just look on the internet.” He was confused. It would have been funny in other circumstances, listening to Bucky talking technology and 21st century but Lucy did nothing but sigh sadly.

“When you didn’t want to talk about it in the range, I thought that maybe, it wasn’t the time yet. I respected the fact that you didn’t want me to know so I didn’t look for myself. I figured I’d just wait.” she said, bringing the blanket around her shoulder. “And you are a good man Bucky.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Then help me.”

Bucky started his story. Lucy was silently listening to him, patiently waiting for Bucky to continue when he wasn’t remembering some things. And in fact, he didn’t have a lot of memories from his past back in the 1940s. He explained to her the thing Sam has told him: the most recent memories are always coming back the first. Though he talked to her about some memories he had from war. Then he talked about Hydra. Experimentation. The serum, pretty much the same as Steve. The training. The wipes and the cryo. The missions. Thousands of innocent people killed by his hands. He left out details; his life story was too gory for such a late hour.

He had closed his eyes at some point, his brain replaying the memories with much more clarity. Then he talked about the metal arm. He resisted the urge to look at it when he talked about it. Lucy kept silent the whole time and he didn’t know how long he’s been talking. It was very early in the morning and the storm was finally over when he finished.

The room was silent and he looked at Lucy. She had her eyes closed, she seemed to be asleep, though she had her brows slightly furrowed and her cheeks were tear- stained. _I should probably leave her now_ he thought. He carefully moved to stand up and noticed that she has taken his metal hand in her own, and was holding it tight. _Why-Why is she doing that?_ he thought, confused. He’s always been so conflicted and ashamed of his arm Hydra gave him and now looking at her holding it like it wasn’t a weapon really confusing him. He tried to take it back without waking her. She briefly tightened it before totally releasing it. Before he left the room he would have bet he heard her mumble “Still you’re a good man.” in her sleep.


	14. Aftermaths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back!   
> Enjoy and don't forget to comment and leave kudos, thanks for stopping by :)

Bucky didn’t sleep that night, not that he was unused to it. Too much was going on in his mind, his thoughts were so loud it was becoming overwhelming. What did she do? What did he do? What has been going on his mind to spill his past to her? And he didn’t understand her reaction. No, he must have misunderstood somewhat, she didn’t mean what she said, she was tired and confused. Still, a small part deep inside of him wanted to believe her. _Still you’re a good man_. Is it even possible at this point? Steve was used to remind him every time that he was a changed man, that he was good but hearing Lucy saying it…well it was different.

Trying to sleep was a complete waste of time, Bucky stayed up thinking until the sun illuminated the gloomy room. Then he stood up from his bed and left his room.

He pushed the door of the common room and soon regretted it. He’d thought he’d be alone but there was a “crowd” already. Thor and Loki were on a corner of the kitchen, and Bucky wandered if they even sleep at all. Tony was here for once, chatting with Steve and Natasha. Looking at all of them, Bucky tried to backward and escape at the Avengers but Steve chose this moment to look up at the door, noticing Bucky and waving warmly at him. _Dammit Steve_.

Having no other choice now, Bucky approached the merry crew, and he saw Steve’s happy expression melt the closer he got. He didn’t like the way everybody was looking at him…

“My my, looks like Frosty got too close to Lucy-cat! You got handsy? Naughty boy!” Tony said, sipping his coffee. Natasha did nothing but frown angrily at Tony and look intensively at Bucky. The Asgardians were silently watching the scene from their corner while Steve was looking worriedly at his friend.

“Bucky what happened?” Steve asked quietly, staring at the already pink marks on his cheek.

 _So that's all the fuss about._ Bucky thought. He really didn’t like them looking at him that way…

“She had a nightmare.” he said darkly, staring at Tony who choked on his coffee. Bucky smirked internally. Steve’s eyes widened mouthing what Bucky had just said like it wasn’t possible and Natasha nodded in understanding. He quickly saw Loki stopping what he was doing and frown from where he was standing before rejecting his brother who asked him if he was okay.

“Come on Buck, sit with us.” Steve said, making room for him. Natasha exchanged a few words in Russian with him then put a cup of black coffee in front of him and quickly left the room, not before smacking Tony on the back of the head for his comment earlier. Thor and Loki left the room too, soon followed by Tony who didn’t really want to be left alone with two supersoldiers, especially with the gloomy one.

Steve and Bucky were installed in a tensed silence. Bucky was thankful that Steve didn’t ask questions (at least immediately) but he could still hear him think.

“Shut up Rogers.” Steve looked away and rubbed his face with one hand.

“Sorry.” Bucky waited for a question he knew Steve would ask him, it was a matter of seconds…

“Buck, what’s going on? You look like…well…” he said, searching his friend’s eyes. Bucky grunted and looked away, taking a sip of his coffee. Steve sighed. When Bucky would trust him enough to tell him what’s on his mind?

“Like I said, she was having a nightmare.” Steve turned toward Bucky who suddenly talked, listening attentively. “I-When I opened the door, I found her curled up in the corner of the room, crying and murmuring.” Steve didn’t ask how Bucky could have heard her, he unfortunately knew that Bucky didn’t sleep well at all, especially after a mission. Bucky fell silent for a moment, Steve didn’t pry.

“There was a storm outside; she couldn’t hear me over the thunder when I called her. I-I didn’t know what to do, I wasn’t able to wake her Steve, she was screaming and sobbing and-“ Bucky remembered his powerlessness at the sight of Lucy’s pained rambling, trapped in a nightmare.

He felt a hand on his right arm and turned quickly to look up at Steve who was looking at him with a reassuring smile.

“It’s okay Buck.” he tried to comfort his friend, only to be pushed away by Bucky, who ran a hand through his tangled hair.

“No it isn’t.” He looked miserable. “I’m the one having nightmares, I don’t know how to handle them when it’s someone else having them.” Steve didn’t seem to understand so he went on. “I tried to wake her up by grabbing her arms. The shittiest thing to do really.”

Steve nodded in agreement. “Tell me about it pal. I learned it the hard way never to grab you when you’re having a bad dream!”

Bucky cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck. “Riiight. The thing is, I didn’t know it. When I tried to shake her awake, she kinda woke up but she crashed on me all feline and scary as hell, trying to claw me.”

“She visibly succeeded.” Steve said looking at the thin marks once again. “Getting sloppy?” Steve tried to lighten the atmosphere.

Bucky scoffed.“Punk.”

“Jerk.”

“Seriously though, you should have seen her when she actually woke up. She was a mess. I was a mess. Damn, we fought on her floor! It was but a scratch but I was bleeding all over the floor. She looked miserable. It wasn’t her fault really, I shouldn’t have touched her, but she looked so guilty and ashamed. And then I don’t know what happened but I ended up telling her about my past with Hydra. I don’t really know why.” Bucky seemed to have a lot in his mind this morning, he wasn’t that talkative. Steve didn’t know either he should be happy or sad about it.

“I didn’t tell her everything. I couldn’t. I would have scared her, disgusted her. And she would have been right.”

“ Buck, stop with that self-loathing speech. You were under mind-control. I know you, you never would have wanted that to happen.” It was heartbreaking for Steve to have his friend in front of him, but to see he wasn’t the man he grew up with anymore. He hated Hydra even more at that moment, wishing he could bring back the man he’d known for years, repair his broken friend and forget all about Hydra.

Bucky looked up at Steve, as though his thoughts. “You know I’m not the man you grew up with. We gotta learn to live with that. I don’t know what I am anymore, it’s getting harder everyday. I don’t sleep, and when I do, I wake up with the memory of the chair, or of someone I murdered,…I killed thousands of people Steve.”

Steve steeled himself against the onslaught of emotions that always came with a serious talk with Bucky. He looked directly at his friend. “Still, you’re a good man.”

Bucky’s dropped open in awe and he blinked a few times at Steve like he had just dropped a big spoiler like Darth Vader was Luke’s father.

Steve frowned.“What?”

“Lucy said the exact same thing when I was leaving her room….” And at that moment he couldn’t help but think they both were actually very alike.

~

Lucy tossed and turned in her bed. It’s been a long time since she had a nightmare of this sort nor she had wept this much. Lucy didn’t like crying, it was usually futile and gross, though she respected it when someone cried, often offering her help to this person. You are vulnerable when you cry. She didn’t like it either.

Only, this time Bucky had been here. He had seen her breakdown. And she had hurt him. Unconsciously of course but still. Then she had begged for him to stay, _how lame was that_ she thought. But Bucky had agreed to stay with her and had even started to tell her his history. She had listened attentively all he had to say, trying to memorize every detail...

 _This time Bucky had been here._ He had been here to wake her up. He had been here to calm her down and to carry her to her bed. He had been here to keep her company because she couldn’t go back to sleep after what happened.

Lucy stood up and changed in black sweatpants and light green sport bra. She took a look at herself in the mirror, brushing her hair and washing her face, packed her duffel bag and quickly left her room. She headed directly to the gym, she really didn’t want to face everyone, especially Bucky, not now.

In the gym, she installed a parkour and ropes were soon hanging from the ceiling. After warming up, she started training. _Do not touch the ground_ was her goal. She was barefoot, leaping, jumping, climbing from a block to another.

 _I’m not a scared animal._ Jump. _I’m not gonna cry._ Jump. _Next time I claw someone, it’ll be Irina. I have to be strong. Fast. Agile._

Then, she decided to do some climbing on the climbing wall of the gym.

That how Natasha found her, half-way through the climbing wall.

“Hey.”

Lucy gasped and nearly lost her grip on the wall. She turned her heard around to see Natasha on the ground below her.

“Congratulation Nat. I didn’t hear you coming. Very few people can do that.” Natasha smirked and Lucy caught a rope nearby. She ended up next to Natasha, who looked very unimpressed though she had been watching her whole training with a certain pride.

“So what’s up Nat?” Lucy ran a hand through her sweaty hair. She was surprised to see the Russian spy in that part of the gym.

“I should be the one asking.” Lucy frowned.

“Really?”

Natasha crossed her arms. “How are you?” She seemed genuinely worried for her, she was looking at her as if she was looking for a problem written over her face. Realization dawned to Lucy.

“Oh.” _The incident._ Did everybody know what happened in the night already? Lucy sat heavily on the floor and buried her head in her hands, sighing.

“Listen, I saw Bucky earlier-“

“How is he?” Lucy cut her off. She wasn’t forgiving herself for clawing him.

“He’s fine Lucy. I’m worried about you.” Natasha said, crouching next to her. Lucy cocked an eyebrow at her. She wasn’t really used to Natasha caring.

“I’m fine.” Then after a thought, she added “Actually I don’t know.“

“Just don’t beat yourself up about it ok? As horrible as it may have seemed, it was just a nightmare.” Natasha said, standing up. She looked around her and added “I knew I would find you here.”

“Really? Why?” Lucy said, looking up.

“Training it’s what I do after a bad night.” Natasha shrugged. Lucy nodded before standing up as well and stretched.

“Next time I claw someone, I want it to be Irina.” she said coldly.

“Who’s Irina?”

Lucy’s face darkened. “Just my ex best friend who turned out to be Hydra and wanted me to be her brand new _Asset._ ” she spat out the last words.

“Well I hope you’ll make her pay.” Natasha said, “Want to spar a little?” she added with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

“You’ve got some new moves to teach me?” Lucy's face lightened.

“Go find for yourself!”

Lucy and Natasha trained together all morning. Lucy loved Natasha for she was so strong and confident. And Natasha had come to consider Lucy as her younger sister. It was a real pleasure for the both of them to spar together, and they fought like two young lionesses even if their choreography looked more like a dance. Natasha brought her good news, telling her there’s gonna be a big gala in two weeks. Tony was used to throw parties and he wanted the Avengers to be here for the annual Charity gala. And Natasha had a gift for making forget her worries to Lucy, at lest for a moment.

(Two weeks later)

In the tower Lucy was now often referred by the Cat. Or Lucy-cat (Tony mostly). They were all very proud of their protégée. She spent her time training with Natasha and Clint mostly, being the only “normal” human beings (but at the Tower can we truly talk about normality?), meant by this they weren’t gifted nor weren’t given super strength. Lucy was a quick learner and since she arrived she managed to not only learn from the team but also developed a fighting style of her own.

Today, she was sparring with Thor, on Natasha’s watch. And it was going really well and she was beginning to piss Thor off that he couldn’t get a hold on her.

“This is not fair! It’s impossible to catch her!” Thor exclaimed as Lucy slid between his legs, falling out of yet another hold. It was a funny thing to watch them, it was like a game of cat and mouse, only this time, Lucy in the role of the mouse, wasn’t getting caught at all, and she was a cat.

Lucy was in her hybrid (or natural) form, a thing she did only when she was training, a thing that allowed her to have an even greater balance and reflexes.

“It’s like she knows what move I’m gonna do next!”

“You’re becoming predictable Thor that is.” Lucy said dodging hit after hit.

But what’s a kitten next to a god? Suddenly, using all his brutal strength, he tackled her, quickly pinned her down on her stomach and summoned his hammer and put it on her back.

“Now THAT’s totally unfair!” Lucy was fulminating. The hammer wasn't crushing her, but it definitely prevented her from standing up. She was ridiculous, laying on the floor, desperately moving her limbs, Natasha was trying not to laugh. Thor was simply roaring with laughter.

“You’re right little cat!” Thor summoned Mjolnir in his hand and Lucy got up, hands on her hips, frowning. “Don’t be upset lady Lucy, you fight like a lioness. In a fair fight, you would have won.”

“That’s for sure.” Lucy winked mischievously at Thor and she saw Natasha with her thumbs up at her.

“It’s always a real pleasure sparring with such a feisty opponent.”

“You too, Thor.” Lucy said with a nod as the god left the gym.

Natasha turned towards Lucy, a grin on her face. “Good job.” Lucy shyly put a rebel strand of ginger hair behind her ear. Being given compliment from the former assassin was a great honor to say the least.

“Come on. Leave the gym a little. You’ve been training all the time these days.” Natasha said, grabbing Lucy’s arm.

“But-“

“There’s no “but”. Wanda is waiting for us. We have to find something to wear for Tony’s party remember?”

Lucy’s mouth dropped and she would have slapped herself. “It’s tomorrow isn’t it? The gala?”

“Yep. And you have no decent dress to wear.” Lucy let Natasha drag her out of the gym and headed to their floor to pick up Wanda. They went shopping like three best friends going to prom; well Lucy and Wanda were especially acting like it. Natasha was more of the wise and calm older sister who’s in charge of everything. It took two seconds to Natasha to find a beautiful party dress that looked amazing on her. Wanda, sticking to her style, opted for a black knee length dress with discreet silver patterns of stars and moons on it. Lucy had disappeared a moment and when she returned, she had found a beautiful deep red tea length swing dress.

They spent the day together, mostly chatting and spending good girl time. The Avengers was a boy’s club and even though all of the men were good and fair, the women had a certain undeniable bond.

When the night of the party came, they were all in Nat’s room, exchanging awkward and funny stories about their fellows Avengers and getting dressed.

“And we all love teasing Steve especially Tony.” Natasha was saying, brushing her hair.

“You have a good part in it too.” Wanda said.

“Nat teasing Steve? I can totally see that!” Lucy was rummaging through a case of make up, on a sofa.

“Yeah, for his birthday, Natasha bought him LifeAlert. You should have seen his face!” Wanda laughed at the memory.

“No way!”

“Even though he looks like he’s 27, he really is like 95! That time when I gave him a new phone he started panicking when he touched a wrong button on the screen. Steve is also that kind of grandpa who covers his eyes and blushes when teenage girls in dangerously short shorts pass by.” Natasha said from the bathroom.

Lucy had found two different eye shadow and was asking Wanda for advice. “Well I think that’s cute.” she said smiling.

Wanda and Natasha insisted on doing Lucy’s hair even if she had said “there is nothing to do with it really.” In the end, Lucy was standing in front of the mirror, eyes sparkling as she admired her friends’ work. They managed to transform her ginger mane in a beautiful braided crown, with a few rebel bangs out.

“Thank you, it’s beautiful!” she exclaimed.

“You’re welcome Lu!” Wanda said smiling.

They finished getting dressed, helping each other. Wanda was rocking her outfit and Natasha was stunning. After some final touches to their outfits and a final look at the mirror, the girls headed towards the ballroom on the top floor of the tower, ready to spend a great night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> I hope you liked it, this chapter hadn't been easy to write! The next chapter isn't ready (at all) yet but i can promise there's gonna be a lot happening!  
> Love you all !
> 
> Again, sorry for the mistakes!


	15. Dance with me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically, the party. Talking, partying, and dancing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the long waiting, school and life happened. Thanks for your patience i love you all! Enjoy!

Natasha and Wanda told her to have fun and left, in different ways to enjoy the party. The ballroom was full of people and Lucy didn’t know hardly any of them. Lucy stayed at the entrance awkwardly, scanning the room for someone she knew, before heading toward the big bar.

“Hello there.”

Lucy nearly jumped as she heard a voice right behind her. She spun around to see Loki smirking at her.

“Hey.” she said a bit suspiciously “How are you doing?”

“Pretty bored thanks for asking. Those midgardians parties are quite a funny little thing next to what we do in Asgard. A tad annoying too.” he leaned against the bar and looked amusedly at the guests.

“So what’s the motive of your Highness’ presence in this insignificant midgardian party?” Lucy teased. Loki looked back at her and snagged two flutes of champagne from a passing waiter, handing one to her.

“It’s a good distraction.” he said, “Plus, some people might be enough level headed to be a good company.”

“Should I feel honored that you dare talking to me because I’m level headed?” Lucy cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Why, I wasn’t talking about you.” he said and Lucy looked blankly at him, but he betrayed himself and smiled. Lucy grinned and lightly shoved him.

“You asshole. That wasn’t even funny!” she joked, laughing. They stayed silent for a moment, looking at the party going on in front of them.

“Oh there’s Steve over there!” Lucy exclaimed, noticing the tall blond in a corner. She turned towards Loki, “You mind if I-?”

Loki silently made a sign for her to go towards him with his hands pointed at Steve. Lucy waved back at the god and quickly took off.

“Hi Steve!” Lucy said, getting close to him.

“Hello Lucy! Great dress.” Steve said smiling at the sight of the small woman. Lucy grinned and looked shyly at her dress.

“Thanks.”

“So are you enjoying yourself?” Steve asked.

“Yeah actually. I was at the bar, chatting with Loki…what?” Lucy suddenly caught Steve looking over her shoulders, and spun around to follow his glare.

“Well, look who’s here.” She heard Steve whisper just behind her. Bucky had just entered the ballroom and was still standing on top of the stairs. Dressed in a black European cut suit, a glove covering his left hand, he was awkwardly glancing around. “I wasn’t sure he was gonna make it to the party to be honest.”

Lucy waved at him and made a sign for him to join them. They saw him walk towards them, making his way through the crowd.

“Heya Buck!” Steve said happily, putting one thumb up for his nice suit. They talked a little and Lucy didn’t really paid attention to it. Then suddenly, someone called Steve’s name and he looked up to see Sam and Sharon waving at him next to the appetizers. Steve smiled and looked back at Lucy and Bucky. “Sorry guys, duty calls…I’d better go…You know how Sam is…yeah. Have fun.” And he disappeared, quick as lightning, leaving a startled Lucy and a surprised Bucky.

Lucy frowned, still looking at the direction Steve took. She had a feeling Steve had make a quick exit to give them some time together…but what for really? They both looked so awkward. She turned towards him. He certainly looked truly dashing in his suit but clearly uncomfortable in the situation. Moreover, she hadn’t seen him much since he spent the night by her bed. She felt heat creep just at the thought of it.

“So…err-“ she wanted to slap herself, “Guess we have some alone time…” she muttered. “You look great.” She added more loudly. She showed his suit with both of her hands.

Bucky gave her one of his half-smile. “Thanks.” He leaned a little closer. “You are beautiful”. This time Lucy clearly blushed. Bucky wordlessly offered his arm and she put her own on the crook of his elbow. They headed to the bar, grabbing champagne. When she looked up at him, his gaze was flickering quickly, and she noticed photographers were blinding everyone with their flashes everywhere. Somewhere a glass broke and Bucky turned his head sharply towards the noise. All happened so quickly. Suddenly, a drunken man stumbled on Bucky and started yelling at him.

“Watch where you’re going bastard!”

“I didn’t do anything, you’re drunk.” Bucky growled through clenched teeth.

“You son of a- who do you think you’re talking to? Aren’t you the fucking broken assassin Captain America got back? Hey I’m talking to you! You’re an abomination!” The man wouldn’t stop yelling and tried to grab Bucky by his shoulder.

“Leave him alone!” Lucy exclaimed and pushed the drunkie. The said drunkie grunted and sharply turned towards Lucy.

“You bi-“ Lucy cut him off by breaking a bottle of whiskey taken on the counter on his head. The man fell ungraciously on the floor and some of the guests nearby gasped and swept away. _Quick quick quick_ without over thinking it, Lucy leaned over a shaken Bucky and tightly grabbed his wrist and made it to the door of the patio behind the tainted bay window. She ignored the weird and worried glances and pushed the door.

Bucky went past her as soon as she closed the door and tightly grabbed the rail, breathing hard though his clenched teeth. Lucy was by his side in one second.

“Bucky. Bucky look at me.” Lucy put one hand under his chin. “Breathe with me. In. Out.” He was looking at her dead in the eye imitating her exaggerating breaths to steady himself. After a moment, she put her hand down and leaned on the rail as well. “You’re okay?” Bucky avoided her glaze and turned his head away. Lucy sighed and looked through the window behind her.

“That man was a complete idiot. Don’t believe a word he said. “You are a war hero and a survivor.”

“I’m not.” Bucky whispered, ripping off his glove and looking at his metal hand . “I shouldn’t be alive after the things I’ve done, after being what I am... He’s right I’m-I’m an abo-“

“In that case I’m an abomination too.” Lucy exclaimed and met Bucky’s horrified eyes.

“What?!”

“You heard me well.” Lucy held his glaze. “Mutants are considered monsters. We are feared, hated and despised by humanity for no other reason than we are mutants. The world is mean Bucky, people will try to bring you down, telling you you’re not worthy, useless, you’d be better dead. So don’t make their work easier. You. Are. Not. An. Abomination.”Lucy emphasized her last sentence, all she wanted at the moment was Bucky trusting and believing her. Bucky turned his head to avoid her glare.

Lucy stayed silent after this outburst, and busied herself pulling out a little stands of ginger hair out of her too tight braided crown. It was probably too tight but maybe what she wanted to is try to hide behind her hair, yet she didn’t want to destroy her friends’ work.

 _She seems to know a whole lot on mutants. Does she know any of them?_ Bucky thought at some point. “Great pep talk.” Bucky said eventually, a small smile itching. “Did you write it down first?” Lucy knew she had him back. Well, almost. He wasn’t looking at her yet.

“I know right!” Lucy grinned. Then she added softly, her eyes looking for his, “I meant every word of it. Except for the “I am an abomination too.”part. What I said works for me too right?” Lucy leaned closer to him, shoulders almost touching now. “And I also wanted to thank you by the way.”

“What for?”

“For acting like nothing happened, you know, the night I actually clawed you, like a wild beast…” Lucy said nervously.

Bucky smiled. “What you clawed me? I don’t remember anything like being clawed…” Lucy shoved him a little. “Lucy it’s totally okay. I acted stupidly, you reacted instinctively. Don’t beat yourself up about it ok?”

“Yeah ok.” Lucy said nodding for herself. “Thanks again. I’ll try not to claw you in the future.” she added more joyfully.

“Glad to hear it.” Bucky giggled. They stayed silent a moment, not really knowing what to say next.

“Are you not cold?” Bucky said turning towards her, finally meeting her eyes. Lucy shook her head mischievously.

“Nuh-uh. I’m only rarely cold, mutant thing I guess…but a little action to warm me up would be great.”

“Wha-I don’t follow-“ Bucky frowned.

“Dance. Do you dance?” Lucy asked suddenly, smiling, and Bucky froze a second.

“I don’t dance…anymore.”He gulped. Lucy shot him a look.

“But you used to.”she guessed. Lucy looked over her shoulder to the noisy party going on behind them. She hadn’t paid attention to the music until now, too focused on keeping Bucky from Wintering out. But now, she was wondering how she had managed to ignore it. It was at normal volume outside so she could guess how loud it was inside. “Looks like they’re playing your type of music.” Lucy said, her smile broadening. She took a few steps back from the rail and extended her hand towards Bucky. “C’mon! Dance with me!”

“What?!” His face was priceless, Lucy was really beginning to surprise Bucky. _Say bye bye to your comfort zone._ Lucy gently took his right wrist and pulled him closer. And Bucky decided he liked surprises.

“You sure know how to dance right?” Lucy asked now that he was in front of her, dropping his wrist. ‘’ ‘Cause I know Steve doesn’t.” she chuckled softly.

“I know how to dance thank you very much.” Bucky said, a glint in the eye. “I was an excellent dancer…at the time.” Bucky frowned, an expression of nervousness crossed his face but it was gone in one second.

“Umh…Care to show me?” Lucy looked almost shy, but her eyes were sparkling in the evening, teasing and trying to give him confidence. Bucky smirked and took her left hand on his own. He stopped dead in track when he thought about putting his metal hand on her waist. _Fuck my glove, my hand, where’s my glove, what do I do with my ha-_ his thoughts were racing. Lucy, noticing it, grabbed his wrist and wrapped it around her waist. She looked at him, in a reassuring way, and Bucky began to lead them along to the beat of the music.

It was a Glenn Miller type of slow music from the 40’s. Lucy loved it. Even if at first they had to resist the urge to look at their feet (well mostly Bucky). She could tell he knew the steps but he was a little unsure of himself, some of his moves being hesitant and she realized this was probably the first time he’d danced in a long time. But as they continued, muscle memory seemed to work and Bucky become more confident in his movements and was able to start enjoying it.

His expression gradually softened and his pressed lips became a full grin, feeling himself being able to relax and put his guard down for the first time in a while. And Lucy was smiling too.

The music ended and was soon replaced by far more upbeat music.

“I know this music!” Bucky exclaimed, eyes illuminating. “I remember it!”

Lucy was a fast learner and she was dancing and turning under his right arm, like she had done it her entire life. _It was almost unreal…_

“Am I dreaming?” Bucky whispered, slowing down, dropping Lucy’s hands. She spun, her deep red dress rising up almost horizontally.

“No…this isn’t a dream!” Lucy laughed. Bucky grinned and caught her but her waist and lifting her up, to spin her. He was feeling like he was back in the 1940’s, in a dancing club, before the war. Lucy’s dress was reminding him of the beautiful dresses ladies wore back at the time. As they danced, Lucy finally saw a glimpse of the old Bucky and couldn’t help but being amazed by the change.

The music finally ended and they stared at each other, spent and happy and not knowing what to say. Lucy’s eyes were sparkling and full of life, Bucky was smiling like never before.

Lucy broke the spell and looked through the window, to see some guests starting to leave. The style of the music had changed, more contemporary. There had also a few drunk people at the bar, some couples were still dancing and entire groups were chatting.

The evening wore down and the party ended. Lucy and Bucky got back inside, without being noticed, Lucy giggling as they were hiding being people and furniture, not wanting to be spotted by any of the Avengers. They exited the ballroom and Lucy immediately took off her shoes. Bucky walked her up to her room and dropped her off at her door. Lucy had finally put her hair down, and it was now flowing around her face making little waves.

“It was a wonderful evening.” Lucy said with a smile as they stopped outside of her door. “I had fun.” she added in the tone of secret, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Me too…I didn’t think I would. It’s been a long time.” Bucky said slowly.

“Since you last danced?” Lucy asked, tilting her head. Bucky nodded silently. “Well, I think you were great. You still got it!”

“You were-you were stunning tonight.” Bucky said. He looked thoughtful for a minute and Lucy seemed to hold her breath. Bucky found himself reaching for her hand. He took hers in his, moving a little closer, and Lucy’s eyes widened just a little, and for a flickering second Bucky thought he’d done something wrong. But then he brought a hand up to cup the side of her face, leaned down, and kissed her.

She hadn't expected that. She had to admit she had thought about it quite a few times these past weeks and had hoped for it tonight, but hadn't thought he'd actually do it. The kiss grew intense and even if it wasn’t the kind of kiss you see in movies these days it was unforgettable. He brought his other hand up, tangling his fingers in her hair, deepening the kiss. Her hands came up, running up his sides.

Then, as quickly as it had started, he broke away. He looked into my eyes for a moment. “Goodnight, Lucy. You look beautiful.”He leaned closer to her ear. “Thanks for the dance.” Then he disappeared, taking off down the hall for the elevator, the elevator doors soon closing behind him. Lucy stayed a moment outside her room, fingers lingering where Bucky had kissed her, before going in. Closing her door, she sighed and leaned her back against the door, a happy little smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like it ? This chapter was hard, and i'm not entirely satisfied but hey, i do my best. Tell me what did you think about it!  
> Stay beautiful!  
> Sorry for the mistakes, i posted it as soon as i had finished it :)


	16. Lucy and Bucky sitting in a tree

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not dead yet, i'm still writing. Again sorry for that outrageously long waiting.  
> Please could you ever forgive me ?  
> Enjoy!

_You didn’t sleep last night._

Lucy was looking at her mug of cold milk almost like meditating over it. Only she could know she was more thinking about a kiss that happened last night than the milk though, she loved milk and Tony often teased about it. But that wasn’t what intrigued the man sitting silently across the bar, arms crossed. He frowned and looked at her, and she looked up at him from her mug, and slightly tilted her head to one side innocently. He put his left hand on the table and tapped out something on the surface.

 _What?_  

Lucy cocked an eyebrow and after a moment she answered.

 _You didn’t sleep well lately._ She tapped out slowly. _Is everything okay?_

 _Who taught you the Morse code?_  Bucky straightened on his chair, looking suddenly suspicious and definitely curious. Lucy glared at him and snorted.

_Don’t change the subject._

_I couldn’t help to notice you’ve had trouble finding sleep these days._ Bucky changed the subject.

 _Clinttaughtme._ She tapped out quickly. Too quickly. Bucky smirked and raised an eyebrow at her.

“You forgot the spaces, Lu.” He said, that cocky smirk still on his face. Lucy threw her hands in the air with a loud “Ugh!” before standing up and heading towards the fridge. She could feel his eyes on her as she opened the fridge’s door to retrieve a slice of ham. She turned and met Bucky’s questioning glaze and the sporadic arrival of the team in the common room.

First came Wanda and Pietro. Wanda had panda eyes, she certainly didn’t manage to take her all makeup off last night and didn’t bother to check on her this morning, because she clearly seemed sleepy. But apart from that detail she was doing rather well. Better than her brother at least. Pietro was just slow this morning. They sat ungraciously at the table.

“Hi guys.” Lucy said. Pietro who hadn’t seemed to acknowledge her until then, straightened himself and waved lazily at her.

“Hey.” Pietro said as Wanda smiled at her. Bucky was trying really hard not to be noticed by pulling his chair farther from the table where they were, in a corner. Lucy noticed his move from the corner of the eye.

“Slept well?” Wanda asked and snapped Lucy out to reality. She took a bite of her slice of ham and grinned at her friend.

“Fine thanks. You?”

“Don’t ask me.” Wanda said, glancing at her brother who had picked an apple and was looking at it like he was expecting it to grow legs and run or something. Feeling they were talking about him, he looked up at her sister questioningly. Wanda looked back at Lucy and clarified for her: “He’s hangover” she said, passing one hand in her tangled hair.

“No I’m not!” Pietro exclaimed, shaking his head. “You are.”

Wanda widened her eyes. “No I’m not!” she snorted, a hand on her chest. “He is.” She pointed a finger at the man entering the room. Tony leant heavily against the door he had just closed.

“Yes I am!” he said solemnly, readjusting his dark sunglasses. He approached the bar and sat next to Wanda and Lucy heard Bucky groan. Lucy looked at him worriedly and bit in her ham, putting her mug in the sink. Wanda and Pietro started to eat. Tony cleared her throat and she turned on her heels.

“Ham. You-“ he pointed at her and her slice of ham in her hand. “Ham.” Wanda laughed and Lucy smiled, waving at him with her slice.

“You know what Lucycat, I’m waaaay too hangover to…ugh.” he took his head in his hands, “to deal with your-“ he shook his hand at her direction. “You know what I mean.” he said eventually as Natasha, Clint and Steve came in. At the sight of a not-so-glorious Tony, slumped down at the bar, Clint burst into laughter.

“Gee did you see yourself before posing in the middle of the room?! My eyes are hurting-“

“Fuck off Hawkass.” Tony groaned.

“LANGUAGE!” everyone shouted and Steve became as red as a cherry, hiding his face with one hand.

“Uurgh!! Too loud too loud make it stop.” Tony moaned, shielding his hears, “Silence.” While everybody was busy around Tony (or that what she thought), Lucy came near Bucky who was glaring at everyone in the room. She leaned and came cheek to cheek with him as he turned his head to see her.

“You and I haven’t finished this conversation. And you and I are going to go running.” Bucky cocked and eyebrow and turned to face her.

“Are we?”

“Uh huh we are. Now.” Lucy grinned at him, eyes sparkling. Bucky could lose himself in her glaze forever. “To get your mind away from whatever is on your mind and shouldn’t be. I’m going to change my clothes.” With that she turned on her heels and headed towards the door without a glare behind her.

“Meet downstairs in 5.” Bucky exclaimed across the room and Lucy looked back at him with a smile before disappearing behind the door.

As the door closed, all went silent in the room and everybody whirled around to face Bucky. Tony made a long whistle from where he was. Pietro smiled and Steve nearly gasped as Loki materialized next to him. Clint chuckled at the captain’s friend.

“Guess our Winter Soldier isn’t that cold hearted aft-“

“You were saying Barton?” Bucky had risen from his sit and was making whirring noises with his left arm, staring daggers at the archer. Clint seemed to shrink and tried to hide behind the Black Widow who shot him an exasperated look. Steve was looking at his friend with concern written all over his face. Loki observed the scene with a growing interest, his green glaze flickering from face to face. _The broken soldier…falling for her?_

Bucky made a beeline towards the door, slamming it violently as he left the room.

_~_

He made it to his room and pondered over his workout clothes, wondering whether he should go or not. Stark just loved putting him on the edge, Clint often joining him. _That thought made him want to snap a neck or break something._ But then he remembered her smile and her mischievous glare as he said he would meet her in 5 minutes. He remembered how he had felt when she had leant to whisper to his ear. He would be a fool not to join her. He quickly changed his clothes and jumped in the elevator.

She was already standing next to the front door, watching the street, her back turned towards him. She had heard him coming of course, the elevator not being exactly silent, but she made no move to prove so. Bucky observed her as he walked the corridor. Her ginger hair was kept in a little ponytail but stray hair was already escaping it. A light green tank top and grey pants highlighted her nimble yet muscular form…

“See something you like?” a sudden voice said. Bucky blinked and came back to reality. Lucy turned on her heels, to see Bucky nervously scratching the back of his neck and she started to laugh. “

“You cheeky woman.” Bucky murmured, smiling. He cleared his throat and added louder “Shall we?”, opening the door for her. Lucy cocked and eyebrow before walking past him.

~

The park was mostly empty this early in the morning. The sun was filtering through the reddening leaves, the breeze gently caressing their skin as they ran. Yet, the weather was slowly beginning to get colder as the days were going by and soon these leaves would fall from their trees and autumn would be truly felt .

“Is that all you’ve got?” Bucky suddenly asked with a smirk, not even breaking a sweat yet. Lucy groaned next to him.

“What? Am I too slow for you?” Lucy said, but her tone was teasing. Her cheeks were slightly red but she was keeping up alright.

“No that’s not what I meant, I’m-“ Bucky started.

“Easy sarge!” Lucy laughed, “I know that was not what you meant…or was it?” Before Bucky could reply she added “That’s not all I’ve got. I can run faster.”

Bucky snorted. “Like hell you can. Even Sam can’t catch up with Steve and me! And he’s a trained soldier. And you are just…”

“Catch me if you can!” Lucy exclaimed as she broke in a dead sprint.

“Wha-“ Bucky slowed down in surprise before realizing that Lucy wasn’t slowing down. He fastened, tried to catch up with her. _Damn she is fast!_

She was almost flying, her surroundings were a blur but she hadn’t been this state of awareness for a long time. _It’s…like hunting_. Kurt would have laughed at that thought. But Bucky was already catching up with her. Just a little more…she pushed on her legs, resisting the urge to simply morph into a mountain lion to finish the race. Bucky was almost on her now.

“Gotcha!”

And then she just bifurcated on the left, dropped on her knees and rolled in the grass. Bucky stopped dead in tracks before approaching her form on his left. She was lying there, laughing in the grass a few feet away from the main path.

“Are you laughing or dying doll? I really can tell…” Bucky said, crouching next to her. She opened her eyes at his voice and saw him over her that smile of his on his face and God what a smile…

“Both. Laughing because that was fun. Dying because now everything hurts. Running is impossible.” She cast him a glance to see if he had recognized the line and indeed he did, a little laugh escaping from him.

“Parks and Rec? Seriously Lu?”

“I told you Andy Dwyer was my spirit animal. Besides, you know, being half cougar. Need a sprint? I’m all you need. On a long distance…not so much.”

“Do you know other mutants?” Bucky asked, curious. Lucy bit her lower lip.

“I-I know of them for sure.” She said, uneasy. She fell silent after that and they just stared at each other. Bucky leant and absently brushed a stand of hair off her face and put in behind her ear. She smiled at him and he suddenly felt something odd in his stomach. _Am I seriously getting fucking butterflies right now?_ he thought incredulously, moving away.

“The sky’s beautiful today…look at those clouds!” Lucy was saying, pointing the sky with one hand, the other resting on her stomach. “This one looks just like Thor’s hammer. And look at this ship over there…”

“Yeah, it’s definitely a ship, doll...” But Bucky wasn’t looking at the sky, all he can see was Lucy, lying in the grass, small talking, enjoying the moment. _Am I falling for her?_

_~_

“Well I had a lovely morning.”Lucy said in front of the door. Was it weird that she didn’t want it to end? And yet there they were outside the building, ready to step inside and end this moment they just had.

“Me too.” Lucy reached out for his right hand and gently squeezed it. Then she dropped it and entered the building, followed by Bucky.

_~_

“Kurt, I really don’t see the problem-“

“Listen Lucy, if really there wasn’t a problem, we wouldn’t have this conversation.” Kurt cut her. “In the middle of the night may I add.”

Lucy was on the floor of her bedroom, facing the big glass wall, her phone on her ear. “Kurt, I just want to tell them, to tell him. About the school, about Xavier, about you know, the whole mutant thing.”

“Are you out of your mind? Which part of “stay low”, “don’t make waves”, “don’t tell anybody about it” you don’t understand ?” Kurt exclaimed through the phone.

Lucy sighed. “It’s becoming more and more difficult to keep that for me. I’m hiding something from them and I hate it. And I’ve got the feeling that they’ll understand.”

“You trust them? What happened?” Kurt said, then before Lucy could say something, he added in a whisper “Lucy you have a crush.”

“No!” Lucy exclaimed too quickly.

“That’s what I thought.” Kurt said. “ How long? And knowing you I would bet on the Russian assassin Captain America brought back. Ugh, this is so screwed up.” he added after a moment. Lucy pinched the bridge of her nose, frowning.

 “Bucky is not an assassin anymore. He-he’s a good man. He has always been kind to me but err…almost two weeks ago there was a party and he- he kissed me.” She didn’t want to tell him about the small kisses on the forehead or the temple he had been occasionally when they were alone together watching tv.

“He what?”

“ It’s nothing serious K…”But in the back of her mind she was surprised to wish that all that was a little more than just a game or something. They had spent a lot of time together since then and she caught herself thinking about them more often. “The thing is I’d trust him with my lif-“

“See that’s the problem! You always tend to trust the wrong persons.” Lucy was cut short. Kurt continued. “Now that I’ve your full attention, I’d like you to tell your little friends to stay away from the people who kidnapped you.”

“Why? They’re Hydra, they must pay for what they did, not only for me, but everyone.” Lucy was really confused now.

“Mutants are on the line.” Lucy didn’t know what to say. “We found out they had at least 2 mutants with them.”

“Oh no, Kurt I-“ Lucy’s eyes filled with tears. “The Avengers will know what to do.”

“Leave that to us. As soon as we find the location, we go. And I don’t want to see them ther-“ Just at that moment Lucy heard a pained cry coming from…Bucky’s room. He was having a nightmare again.

“Kurt I have to leave you now.” She said, already heading towards the door.

“What? Lucy stay away from him! Men like him are not all that they seem to be, he’ll break your heart-“

“Bye Kurt.” And she hung up the phone, throwing it on her bed and leaving the room.

~

“Bucky?”

Lucy was by the door, facing Bucky’s room. She hadn’t had the opportunity to see it, Bucky spending time in her room or in the common room, watching movies and series. It was a pretty bare room, almost unlived in, she guessed he wasn’t spending much time here.  Bucky was making himself as small as possible in his bed, shivering, eyes squeezed shut, making pained moans from times to times.

“Bucky!” Lucy made crossed the room and made a move to touch him but she remembered what happened when he had touched her, and drew back her hand. Instead she switched on the lights on the nightstand and stood next to him but out of immediate reach.

“Bucky, listen to me listen to my voice, you need to wake up. ” Lucy thought she was being really stupid, standing there in the middle of the room, trying to wake up Bucky with nothing more than her slightly wavering voice. No matter how many times she may have said his name, he wouldn’t wake up. She didn’t understand why he was shivering so hard, she was in a gray captain America tee and black shorts and was totally fine. But then again, she wasn’t usually cold. Almost never actually. She took a long breath and said one last time “Bucky. Wake up NOW.”

The “now” came as a long growl and Bucky eyes shot open as he sit up, quite panicked. Lucy put a hand over her mouth and stood very still. Bucky was breathing hard and didn’t seem to have noticed her yet, the lamp maybe blinding him.

“Bucky? Are you with me?” She said in a quiet voice. She feared she had woken up the ones sleeping next to Bucky’s room. Bucky turned her head towards her and crossed his arms across his chest, like he was hugging himself.

“Lucy is that you?” Lucy nodded. “Did you-did you just…growled at me?” Lucy managed a shaky laugh.

“You had me scared Bucky.” she said, finally approaching him and sitting on the bed. “I couldn’t touch you and I didn’t know what to do.” She smiled. “And yeah. I just growled. I don’t know what happened.”

“I’m so cold Lucy.” Bucky shivered one more time. Lucy touched his arm and gasped. It was cold.

“It’s okay now, I’m gonna go find another blanket and-where are you going?” Bucky has gotten up and was heading towards the door.

“To warm me up. I have to blow off some steam.” Lucy didn’t even questioned the fact that Bucky wanted to go to the gym in the middle of the night for she had done the same thing once or twice. Instead, she stood up from the bed and joined Bucky next to the door.

“I’m coming with you.” she said simply. Bucky stepped back and frowned.

“Lucy you should go back to sleep, I’m sorry to have woken you up.” Lucy crossed her arms over her chest and gave Bucky a look.

“Do I look like I’m tired?” she said in a flat voice. And in fact, she looked far from tired. “I wasn’t even sleeping. Now I’m coming with you because it happens that I want to spar a little tonight. You?” And with that she left the room, leaving no other choice to Bucky but to follow her.

~

Bucky hunched a little and started to run towards Lucy. The fought the rest of the night, till the sun began to show up. Lucy loved it. Bucky loved being capable of losing his anger with another one than Steve. Lucy’s fighting style was close to Natasha’s but in an even lither and faster way. Not that she was better than Natasha. No one in this building seemed to beat her on that matter, but Lucy was a dangerous thing when she sparred just like her. Bucky had to constantly adapt his approach, Lucy making him use his brain instead of just his muscles and his strength. And Lucy loved how strong Bucky was. He didn’t step back from anything she did. She ended up on her back, with Bucky pinning her down with his face just above hers. She could feel his heat beaming off his body. His hair was falling in front of his eyes and his face was shiny with sweat. She guessed she looked about the same.

“I hope you do realize we’re in pajamas.” She laughed softly. “There. I doubt you’re still cold.” Lucy said, spent. Bucky chuckled above her.

“I’m not the one who insisted on coming even if we were in pajamas. And no I’m not. Now a cold shower would be great.”

“True.” Lucy sighed. “I think we should go back upstairs.” Bucky understood the innuendo, meaning they should go back to their rooms before anyone starts to ask where they are and Tony or Clint starts talking shit. He nodded, but didn’t move a muscle. His blue eyes looked down, scanning her face.

“Thank you for doing this, all of this,” he said. She could feel his warm breath tickle her cheeks. She pushed her hair behind her ear and smiled.

 “I would do anything for you. Except like, shaving my head or that type of things” Lucy said, rolling her eyes. Her beautiful, mesmerizing green eyes.

“Lucy” Bucky said softly, “ I don’t know if you realized that yet but you give the chance to be more than just the walking wreck I’ve become.” Bucky bit his lower lip, before continuing “even just by staying with me. That’s why I’m thanking you.” He was feeling…human.

Lucy kept silent and placed her hands around his cheeks. His face was still red and her glaze moved towards his jaw line. She could feel his blue eyes searching for eye contact. He rested his forehead against hers.

And then Bucky turned his face slightly, pressing his lips slowly against hers. Bucky pressed Lucy closer towards him, her chest against his. She had parted her lips and one of her hands lowered itself to his chest, to be able to feel his heart beat against her palm while she placed the other behind Bucky’s back to push herself in a sitting position. Lucy smiled and Bucky was forced to release her lips.

“You kissed me again. Why?” she simply said and Bucky seemed slightly confused. Maybe the kisses weren't as significant as she'd been making them out to be, and she thought Bucky was just having some issues with expressing his feelings. Still, she wanted to know for sure, for she was hoping.... Bucky was becoming more and more anxious.

“It hasn’t been unwanted…has it? Have I've been kissing you while you didn’t want it?” Lucy vehemently shook her head.

“No! That’s not what I meant.” Bucky sighed…in relief? Then the ghost of a smile appeared on his handsome face.

“Then I thought I was making it obvious.” Lucy widened her eyes and stared at him. “I just wanted you to know that... I love you.”

That’s all Lucy had wanted to hear. A smile slowly appeared on her face and she tilted her head on one side, looking at him.

“I love you too.”

~

“Are they ready?” Miss Kovalsky asked.

“They’re waiting for orders Miss.” a man replied. Good. There was nothing a menace of threatening loved ones couldn’t do. It had been too easy. Finding them and capturing them and then telling them that if they didn’t obey to Hydra, well, they could say goodbye to all their families before beginning to suffer.

“Well, in that case. Let’s see what these mutants have got.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i hope you liked it. I posted it in the middle of the night here because i wanted you to have before i go in my grandparents house (where there is no such thing as the internet). Please tell me what you think about it (sorry for the mistakes), actually your comments help me continuing to write.  
> Sooo Civil war am i right? I'll keep on writing this fanfic because i love it but i can assure you it won't be civil war compliant (i know it). If i'm not dead by the end of the movie, i shall continue my little story.  
> Action in the next chapter!  
> Love you all.


	17. The calm before the storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, i'm back in the world of the living. I'm so sorry for the waiting guys, i think Civil War was hard to handle for my fragile heart. My teachers have no mercy so you can blame them too. And blame my laptop too he's a horrible being.  
> This chapter is longer, and i figured the story needed a bit more of this type of things (you'll know what i mean) before beginning any big action chapter. So basically, a lot of talking and a lot of fluff (yeah because i'm not really comfortable writing smut...hope you understand).

In the common room, pretty much everyone was gathered. Tony liked to call it “Bonding time”, even if he wasn’t often here, but in his lab. And well, “bonding time” was just a term for doing stuff you like with people you spent a lot of time with around you, given the fact they’re on the same team and happen to be in the same room too. Pietro and Wanda were looking over magazines and Lucy was surprised to see them so concerned about fashion. All the “Would that dress be pretty on me?” or “Look at this thing! Ugh typically American I guess.” or “What are those?!” while pointing at strange loafers would make Lucy smile.

Bruce was playing chess in a corner with Sam who was coming over for the weekend. Steve and Bucky were currently watching a baseball game at the TV, Steve on a chair , with a sketch book and a pencil in hand, Bucky spread across the sofa. From time to times, one of them would yell at the screen, or Bucky would swear, causing Steve to roll his eyes. Thor was'nt there for he was visiting his girlfriend (Jane, Lucy thought, he did mentioned her a few times).

From the bar, Lucy was watching all of them, and she caught herself thinking that maybe, after all, this was her family. At that thought, she felt a twinge of sadness. She couldn’t stand being torn apart between the X men and the Avengers. Was it a matter of loyalty? Trust? She had made a promise to Kurt but she didn’t want to hide that part of her from the people that had rescued her and had decided to trust her. She knew it this whole story would end badly and it would be a betrayal for both sides. And Bucky…Lucy let out a frustrated sigh and suddenly wanted to punch someone in the face…or herself, for ending up in this impossible situation.

She turned her head and caught Loki staring at her. She cleared her throat, glaring at him as to say _Forget whatever you just saw or bad things would happen_.

“What are you staring at?” she asked a bit harshly. And she regretted it immediatly. As annoying as Loki was, she knew he had nothing to do with her problem and she shouldn’t take her anger out on him.

Loki arched an eyebrow and stared at her for a second, and his well-known smirk appeared on his face. “You. Obviously.”

 Lucy sighed and rolled her eyes at him. “Obviously. Why am I asking.”  She suddenly remembered why she was in the kitchen/bar in the first place. Steve and Bucky have asked for beers and she told them she would get them. She turned on her heels and opened the fridge and looked for the beers.

“Fancy meeting you here. Since when you agree spending time with common mortals ?” she said to Loki, her head still in the fridge, knowing he was watching her again. Loki snorted behind her.

“I thought I could as well wait for the Russian assassin and her sidekick with the bow and arrows to return from their dangerous mission with my brother’s lovely friends. Ah I could kill for the solidarity this great team has. It’s beautiful, simply beautiful.” Loki said with that smile he had when he didn’t believe a word he was saying. Lucy had closed the fridge door and was currently rolling her eyes, bottles in both hands. Of course, Loki didn't care at all about Natasha's and Clint's mission.

“If I didn’t know better I’d say you’re a _tad_ envious…” Lucy teased. Loki leaned on the bar with one elbow and let a dramatic sigh.

 “Ah you saw right through me. What can I say dearest, you know me too well!” Loki exclaimed sarcastically as if he was in a Shakespearean tragedy.

Lucy rolled her eyes once more and started looking for a bottle opener. Eventually she couldn’t find it and turned to Loki who was still leaned on the bar eating grapes. But then she saw the bottle opener next to Loki.

“Can you hand me that bottle opener?” she asked to Loki, pointing at it with one finger, her hands still on the bottles. Loki looked at the thing Lucy was pointing at, and then back to Lucy. And then with a perfect poker face, he moved it further away.

 A dead silent followed, Lucy’s mouth open in awe.

”Loki!” Lucy exclaimed in a loud, dramatic sigh, trying not to laugh. Loki was clearly smirking, proud of himself and enjoying pissing Lucy off.

 From the sofa, Bucky, who was wondering why Lucy was taking so much time finding beers, turned away from the screen to see what was happening in the kitchen and saw Lucy laughing with Loki. _Loki._ Unconsciously he clenched his metal fist. He was about to stand up when Lucy’s eyes locked with his. Taking in his hard glare and set jaw, Lucy’s smile dropped instantly. She turned towards Loki and stepped his foot on purpose to get past him (he didn’t quite appreciate that she could tell) and get the bottle opener before quickly making her way to the sofa.

“Thanks Lu!” Steve said, looking up from his sketches to take the beer she was handing to him. She nodded and turned, to sit slowly next to Bucky who was staring hard at her. She inhaled and brought the beer up a forced smile on her face.

“Want some beer?” she asked hopefully trying to lighten his mood. His fist was clenched and his face was hard, that kind of face that made anybody guilty. _Gee what’s wrong with him?_ But deep down, Lucy knew what Bucky was thinking, his body language was saying it all.

“Why was he talking to you?” he snarled.

“I’ll take it as a no.” Lucy opened the beer and took a gulp, putting her legs up on the sofa. “Bucky, we were joking around.” That didn’t seem to reassure him, on the contrary.

“Is joking around implying him being so close to you and looking at you the way he does?” Bucky said angrily. Lucy blinked. Twice. A knowing smile slowly spread across her face.

“Bucky Barnes is jealous and over protective…who would have thought!” Lucy exclaimed, poking Bucky in the chest. That took Bucky off guard. Her eyes were sparkling and her brilliant smile was melting his heart. Dammit, it was hard to stay focused.

“I don’t like him. Especially when he’s near you. You acted like you were…you know, like there was nothing between us.” he said the last words pointing at him and her alternatively, casting his eyes away at the end. Lucy’s face hardened instantly. She put a hand under Bucky’s chin and forced him to look up at her.

“Look, Loki is an arrogant snooty god and he feels like he doesn’t belong here. I can understand that, he’s only tolerated here, because of Thor. But at heart, he’s ok. He’s funny, in a sarcastic way. But you Bucky,” she said, gesturing at him with the beer, “I care too much about you to hurt you this way. But I must admit I find it endearing, you being jealous and over protective and all.” she added, with a knowing smile. Bucky relaxed and arched an eyebrow.

“Oh is that so?” a playful smile slowly illuminating his features. Lucy nodded. All the time they talked quietly so no one knew what they were talking about, facing each other and gesturing from time to time. Steve looked up once or twice, wondering what was going on between them, Sam glanced from his corner and smiled. Suddenly, Bucky growled.

“Loki is observing us.” he said still looking at Lucy. Lucy was quick to understand and didn’t make the mistake of looking over the sofa.

“So what?” she asked. In the back of her mind she made a note to herself to talk to Loki about observing people like this. That wasn’t good manners at all ! It was even borderline creepy. But Bucky had made no move to stand up or else, and was looking intensely at Lucy, gaze trailing down to her lips and back to her eyes. Lucy bit her lower lip, to fight a laugh. She knew exactly was he was thinking, and she loved it.

“Well, I guess I can do that.” she whispered with a devil may care smile. And with that, she slid her hands around his neck and kissed him.

Bucky’s metal hand traveled down to her waist while he tangled his fingers in her ginger hair with the other. Lucy briefly deepened the kiss before breaking away. From the corner of the eye she saw Wanda who was approving with her thumb up as to say _you got it girl!_ She heard Loki saying “Ugh please” before turning away but she didn’t care at all. Bucky was smiling, and that was all that mattered.

“I guess everybody knows about us now…” Bucky said slowly.

“Trust me, they already had presumptions.” Lucy winked at Wanda who went back at her magazines, with her oblivious brother. Steve watched them from afar, and looked back at his sketch. He knew Lucy and Bucky liked each other and he was really happy for both of them. But he couldn’t help worrying for his best friend. He didn’t want him to be hurt again.

~ ~

It was dark, everybody had gone for their quarters, and Lucy was sitting on the floor, in front of her big window. It has become a habit somehow. Maybe the city below her, with all the colorful lights and the moon glowing above had a relaxing effect on her. And she really needed that right now. She heard a buzzing sound and looked down at the screen of her phone. Her breath caught as she quickly put it on her ear.

“Kurt!”

“Hi kitten!” Kurt said through the phone, “hope I’m not interrupting something? Is there someone else in the room?”

“No, no everything’s fine. Everyone’s gone to their room early.” Lucy replied, now fixing her toes, “Listen Kurt, I’m sorry for the other day if I made you upset, I had to leave you because he was having one of his nightmares again and…I tried to call you but you didn’t pick up the phone nor tried to call me and I’m sorry.”

“Lu, I’m not mad at you, there’s really no need for apologizing.” A long pause followed. Finally, Kurt broke the silence. “How is he?” No need to precise who the _he_ was. Lucy snorted.

“Please don’t act like you care. I know what you’re thinking about Bucky.” Lucy said tiredly. She didn’t want to fight over this. “I guess you’re not calling me to ask about his well-being.”

“You’re right. Lucy, we’ve almost find them. The mutants. It’s only a matter of time and we’ll be ready to strike.” Kurt spoke quickly as he was excited about it. Lucy’s blood went cold. Different scenarios played inside her head and none of them ended well. Natasha and Clint had returned from their reconnaissance and had spotted an important Hydra concentration in northern Maine. _Why would they choose a place like this?_ Lucy had thought at the time. Their Intel was quite reliable so Jarvis and The Avengers would soon find their hiding place. They were all in standby, waiting for further information. But if the X men were about to find them as well…Lucy knew their abilities….

“Lucy? Are you alive in there?” Kurt brought her back to reality.

“Kurt…I…” Lucy was too overwhelmed to make a proper sentence.

“The thing is, you’ve been with them long enough. You belong with the X men. We need you now.” Kurt said firmly. Lucy blinked.

“Are you saying I should leave them? I should simply go away, disappear without a word like a traitor? After all they did for me?” Lucy exclaimed with a high pitched voice.

“All I’m saying is that, you’re needed-“

“Kurt, I’m tired of this situation! I can’t stand it anymore...I’m hiding things from them, we only talk at night, I don’t even talk to my mom…I don’t deserve all the good things they’ve done for me-They trust me now and I just want to tell them, tell Bucky that I’m associated to the X men and Xavier’s school and everything.” Lucy’s voice was just above a whisper now.

“Nein Lucy you can’t do that! You and I both know how the Avengers and SHIELD treat mutants! They’ll get us listed, we’ll be monitored, all we have worked for we’ll be destroyed! You can’t do that to us!” Kurt exclaimed through the phone. Lucy would have laughed at the German Kurt employed when he was getting emotional. But all she could do at that point was listening to him, holding her breath, out of instinct.   “Please Lucy, please promise me you won’t tell anything! Xavier protected your family, they’ve got almost nothing on your files thanks to him. You can’t throw that away…And Lucy, the X men is all I ever got…they’re the only people who see more in me than just a freak and a monster…please promise me…promise us you won’t tell anything.” Kurt pleaded.

Lucy suppressed a sob. _How did I end up in this situation? Why is it so complicated?_ She almost wished they haven’t found her, that she wasn’t a mutant, she wasn’t head-over-heels for the Winter Soldier…

“I’m scared Kurt, I’m scared of their reactions, of the consequences…” She whispered. She let out a sigh and tried to control the tremor in her voice. “I won’t tell them.” It came out as a murmur, like a sin, as soon as the words left her mouth she felt guilt wash over her.

“Thank you Lucy.” Lucy could feel the relief in his voice. Did he really think that she could have decided to expose him and her friends? Was he relieved that she would hide the truth, against her will? It was too much, she was about to cry and she didn’t want Kurt to hear that.

“I have to go.” Lucy hated how troubled she sounded.

“Ja. Ja of course. I won’t disturb you anymore.” Kurt said softly.

“Just…just be safe.”

 She hung up the phone and walked abnormally slowly outside her room. She couldn’t stand that room anymore. She gently the door and slumped down against the wall and put her head in her hands, shielded by her knees. A tear rolled down her cheek, quickly followed by others, as she sobbed against the wall. _It’s okay to cry_ she thought, _I’m screwing up everything and I have no idea how this will end._ She was torn apart between the X men and Xavier’s school, who trusted her and had been her family since she was a child, and the Avengers, who had given her their trust and she had come to consider as part of her family. And this question kept tormenting her: _Where does your loyalty truly belong?_ In the back of her mind she really hoped the X men would find that Hydra cell faster than the Avengers. So when they’ll get there, there will be nothing left for everything would have been taken care of. And everybody will be safe.

She didn’t know how long she stayed in the hallway, sniffing from time to time, a tear falling on her shirt sometimes, even after she had calmed down. A door suddenly opened and the dark corridor illuminated, the light casting a shadow on the wall in front of her. She lifted her head towards the light, blinking. And there he stood.

“What the-“

~

Bucky didn’t know what just happened. He had found Lucy crying on the floor outside her room, though she was perfectly fine just moments ago when he had left her. The thing that disturbed him the most was that she avoided his questions but she seemed like she hated herself for doing so. When he had asked her what was going on she shook her head, drying her tears on her chin.

“Nothing Bucky.” she had said and to Bucky’s ears it had been the dumbest thing she had ever said. It was definitely not nothing.

“Bullshit.” He had cupped her chin to lift her face. Still, she hadn’t wanted to meet his eyes. “Lucy tell me what happened. You know you can tell me everything, you can trust me.” He said softly. “And I trust you too.”

Somehow it hadn’t been the right thing to say because she shook her head and sobbed and a few more tears rolled down her cheeks. _If only you knew Bucky, if only you knew…what I’m hiding from you._ She had sniffed and dried her teary eyes with both of her hands and had let out a calming breath. “Everything’s fine. It’s alright.” she had said more to herself. “I had a rough day and I’m tired. And I cried.” she had added, finally meeting Bucky’s eyes. “But I’m fine now.” She managed a brave smile and he had squeezed her hand.

“Oh.” He hadn’t known how to react. He had found hard to believe that Lucy had an emotional meltdown or whatever but who was he to judge after all? This type of things could happen to anybody.

She was in the shower now. He was on the sofa, his eyes focused on nothing, thinking and worrying, mostly about Lucy. He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn’t hear Lucy coming out of the bathroom and approaching him.

“That shirt is literally a dress.”

Bucky was yanked from his thoughts as he heard Lucy’s voice. He sharply turned his head towards her voice and at the sight of what he saw his eyes widened. Lucy was standing a few feet away from him, barefoot, short ginger hair still wet, only wearing a shaggy white shirt that came down to her thighs. If it wasn’t for her still slightly reddened eyes she seemed perfectly fine. In the back of his mind he wondered how many times she had made him speechless. She sat close to him, tucking her legs under her as he softly wrapped his left arm around her waist. The shirt slipped over one of her shoulders without her noticing.

“Did you wait a long time?” she asked, her voice a little hoarse and she glanced up to see Bucky's pale blue eyes riveted on the skin exposed by her shirt. His hand slid further down and his fingers tightened ever so slightly on her waist.

The young woman followed his gaze and suddenly her cheeks went very hot. The simple white shirt had slid enough off her shoulder and chest to give him a view of part her collarbone.

“Oh.” she whispered.

Before she could do anything, metal fingers lifted from her waist to tug her shirt back in place and she couldn’t help the shiver that traveled down her spine as she watched him doing so.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly after few heartbeats of silence, his fingers still placed on her collarbone.

“I am now.” Her mesmerizing green eyes locked with his he suddenly leaned forward and brushed his lips across her soft cheek before resting against her temple, his breaths ruffling her hair as she subconsciously leaned closer to him. She put her head on his chest, closing her eyes, just under his chin and he heard a deep and vibrant rumbling sound coming from her. It took him a second to realize what it was.

“Are you…?” Lucy nodded on his chest, confirming his unspoken question. Lucy was purring.

"Sleep in my room tonight," he requested softly and her eyes flipped open and her body tensed. She pulled back enough to stare at him in shock. Realization lightened his confused expression and amusement sparkled in his eyes.

"I just want to keep you close. That's all," he explained as he pulled Lucy back in a hug. Lucy nodded, purring again.

~

Bucky had stayed awake a moment to shower and it was when he climbed on the bed beside her that he felt his heart start to quicken. In his bedroom, Lucy was asleep on her side, her hands spread in front of her, one of her hand, hanging outside the bed. At that moment, she looked exactly like a cat, lazily stretching out in the sunshine. Actually, he thought she was asleep, because when he tried his best to lie down without waking her on the other side of the bed, she stirred and rolled, ending up against Bucky’s back. She felt him tense a second, then slowly relaxing his muscles. He wasn’t used to be so close to someone. He heard her sigh, running her legs, bare legs he realized over his, sleepily. _That woman…_ if he wasn’t lying down, he might have collapsed on his knees from the sensation.

And when in the middle of the night, his heart rate increased and his breathing became shallow, when he felt he was losing himself in a nightmare, Lucy firmly pressed her body against his back, slinging one arm over his waist. She had felt it, not even opening her eyes. She could feel the mood changes, by the heart rates, the smell too. She often saw it as a perk of being half feline. “Breathe with me.” she whispered in his ear. Bucky felt her, impossibly pressing her body against his. He felt her chest rise and fall, her heart beating, in a steady rhythm, slowly seeping the tension out of his body. He let out a shaky breath, his own heartbeat slowing finally, to follow Lucy’s, before drifting back to a peaceful sleep…until the alarm sounded all through the building, meaning trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How did you find it?  
> I want to say thank you for all the kudos you left, i love you guys <3  
> Next time i promise, there will be action...and some other things...
> 
> PS: i own nothing except for Lucy and i'm sorry for the mistakes !


	18. Falling to pieces Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! No more exams in sight, i'm finally on holiday !!! This chapter was really (really) hard to write so i hope you'll like it ! A lot of stuff's happening...:)  
> Enjoy!

Lucy gasped, jolting awake and throwing the blanket in the process. Bucky groaned loudly.

“Fuck!” They both practically leapt out of bed, Lucy’s tangled hair swirling around her face as she looked for her clothes. Bucky took off his shirt in one swift motion and she had to mentally slap herself not to stare at his toned and muscular upper body. Not even checking on herself in the mirror one second, she threw on clothes and headed for the door. She nearly fell over the box just outside the door and Bucky ran into her, making her grunt.

“Why did you stop?” Bucky asked behind her. Lucy bent down and took the box. “ _for Lucycat_ :)” was written on the top of it. Bucky frowned and Lucy removed the tape and the lid, her eyes widening. She grabbed something and let the box drop. A heavy leather garment fell into place in front of her; it was a heavy leather and Kevlar bodysuit, nearly black kind of brown in color with tan and tawny details on the shoulders, the elbows, the knees and the back. It zipped up the front. Each leg had multiple pockets. The elbows and knees were reinforced.

“It’s…it’s a…”

“It’s a tactical suit.” Bucky finished, taking a closer look at it. “Come on.” He hooked his elbow around her and together they headed towards the meeting room. Lucy had to resist the urge to bite her nails out of stress. They didn’t say a word until they were standing right before the doors of the meeting room. Bucky pulled her close to him and gently kissed her cheek. When she looked at him questioningly, he shrugged. “You’re ready Lucy. I believe in you. All is gonna be fine, you’ll see.”

 He opened the door and immediately let Lucy come in first. She had noticed that behavior he only had with Steve and Sam. And now with her. He was always one step behind, and she had often wondered why, until she discovered his eyes roaming, watching their surroundings, assessing threat level and possible dangers. He was doing the same thing behind her right now, she could feel it. He was watching her six, even if they were in the Avengers tower, even if they were surrounded by friends and there was no imminent danger.

Tony and Steve stood at the front, talking to each other. Natasha was quiet on her chair and Wanda was picking at her nail polish across her, next to Clint. Sam wasn’t here: he actually didn’t live her. Thor and his brother arrived, followed by Pietro and Bruce. Tony turned towards the people around him.

“Dear beloved we are gathered here today-“

“Stark.” Steve glanced at him. Tony shrugged and continued.

“-to discuss about HYDRA. Natasha? Clint?” Tony gestured towards them expectantly. Clint straightened on his chair and Natasha looked at Steve.

“Northern Maine, in the middle of nowhere.” Clint said.

“Clayton Lake. We’ve located a HYDRA cell, in the woods.” Natasha added. “We don’t have much info about it but it could be big. Something to do with the program Lucy was part of before we rescued her.” Lucy looked up when Natasha mentioned her name, a wave of uneasiness washing over her, and caught the Russian spy looking at her.

“We are not wasting any time. We have to stop them before any new Asset is created.” Steve stepped in. Lucy quickly glanced at Bucky beside her, but he had an amazing poker face and showed nothing of what was going on in his mind. Or was it a poker face? Or was he lost in memory? Anyway she gently squeezed his arm. “Bucky, and Sam will go in first. Natasha, you'll go in last and hack the computers. I know you're good on first wave, but we need to make sure you can get the data- you're the best at that sort of thing. Thor and Stark, you’ll secure the perimeter, along with Pietro. Wanda, Lucy and Clint will go in second.”

“I’m coming?” Lucy asked in a little voice, after a beat of silence. Tony turned towards her and nodded.

“Why of course you’re coming!” he exclaimed, “the suit I made you is not to sleep in it. It’s to save the world, to be an Avenger.” Lucy was shell shocked. Natasha had looked at her and had seen her take a small step backwards, a flash of fear and horror darkening her eyes for a second. If she had blinked, she would have missed it. She had to admit Lucy was pretty good recovering from her emotions, except for the now large pupils she had. But a good poker face was hard to achieve and Lucy’s reaction had left Natasha wondering.

Steve cleared his throat and turned to address the whole room. “Everyone else, study your files, memorize the floor plan, and get some sleep. We go in at 2100 hours tonight.”

~

They hadn’t seen each other all day. As soon as they were dismissed, Lucy went AWOL. Well it’s not like she had disappeared, everyone was pretty busy and not to be found. It wasn’t until the end of the day that Bucky found her in the gym. She wasn’t training, she was in a corner of the room, files all around her. He immediately noticed the scratching marks on the wall behind her. And she was immediately aware of his presence. Still she didn’t look up at him.

“I don’t think I’m ready.” she said, finally meeting his eyes. These blue eyes she loved, now showing worry and compassion. Bucky approached and crouched next to her.

“You are ready.” Lucy shook her head.

“I’m scared of what might happen, Bucky. I’m not ready for that.” she said. Bucky smirked.

“You’re with the Avengers. What could possibly go wrong doll?” He drew a hand to help her stand up. Lucy rolled her eyes and took his hand, a smile on her lips to reassure him. _I’m with the Avengers, pretty much everything could go wrong_ she thought.

~

The Quinjet shook badly as Thor was causing atmospheric disturbances in the sky. Natasha and Clint were in the command room. The rest of the team was in the other part of the Quinjet, sitting on each side of the plane.

“Let’s just hope I don’t throw up.” Pietro whispered for himself. Lucy was sitting across him, next to Sam and Bucky, clutching hard at her belt on her chest.

“When do we land?” she asked breathlessly. Steve gave her a compassionate smile.

“Soon.” he said, “Be grateful for not parachuting.” He chuckled when he saw Lucy’s face of horror.

“And I thought you liked being on high ground.” Tony said and Lucy rolled her eyes, annoyed.

“On “high ground” there’s the word “ground”. And I don’t see any ground right now.” she said, pressing the back of her head against the wall as the Quinjet jerked one more time. They had explained to her that Thor was doing all this for noise cover but so far it sucked.

“Landing in 2.” Natasha’s voice echoed in the speakers.

~

“Comm check.” Lucy heard Steve through her earpiece. It was a technology jewel made by Tony and the voices it transmitted were as clear as the persons were right in front of her.

“Loud and clear, Steve.” Lucy said, along with the rest of the team. _This is happening, this is happening_ she kept repeating herself. She looked around her. It was dark, but she could see perfectly the trees and bushes surrounding them though it was raining. They were in the middle of a forest, a few kilometers away for the said HYDRA cell. Loki and Bruce were staying on the Quinjet, and Thor would join them soon.

“Remember, keep your eyes open. There should twenty agents. You all know the floor plan. Don't do anything stupid. In and out.” Steve reminded them, looking pointedly at Tony.

 “That means you, Stark.” Clint said through the mic.

Lucy cleared her throat. “There may be more than just simple HYDRA agents…be careful.” Bucky squeezed her shoulder, keeping his face composed.

“We can handle them.”

The team surrounded the building, Steve, Bucky, Pietro and Sam going East and Natasha, Clint, Wanda and Lucy going West. Tony was above in the sky. Lucy was grateful for the storm, filling the air with various noises, and allowing them to progress with a little less discretion. Actually, she thought Clint was really heavy on his feet for a spy but then again, she had an enhanced audition and there was literally no chance the HYDRA guys would hear him from where they were. They already were soaking wet when they stopped, hidden by the trees.

“Lucy, what do your cat eyes see?” Clint asked, not even turning towards her, instead fixing the compound, Natasha next to him. The spy rolled her eyes.

Lucy took a look from behind Natasha. “Two guards at the door. Four cameras, on the first and second floor.” Natasha turned towards Wanda, who simply nodded and concentrated on the cameras a moment, her hands glowing red and fingers moving fast.

“Power is off.” she said.

“We’re entering the building.” they heard Steve say. After a minute of silence, his voice transmitted once again. “First floor almost cleared. Barton?”

“Copy that. We’re coming.” And with that he shot two arrows at the guards who weren’t paying any attention. It was almost comical when the group destroyed the electronic door and simply pushed it out of the way before entering the building like “knock knock we’re here to kick your ass.” It was already chaos in there. Smoke and destroyed furniture everywhere, yelling and gunfire a bit further.

“Guys we have a problem.” Tony said.

“What kind of problem?” Sam asked, slightly breathless. Lucy couldn’t see them yet, but they were still at the first floor.

“Jarvis scanned the compound. The floors plans are not the ones we have.” They all heard Bucky’s “what the hell?” and Steve sigh at his friend’s comment. “The compound has a large underground, with tunnels which end up in the yard around the building. More heat signatures than planned.”

“Lucy, you go with Natasha find the computers. Wanda with Clint on the second floor. Stark, tell us were those exits are.” At that moment, Steve earned once more his Captain America name. He was born to give orders.

Lucy followed the Black Widow through multiple rooms and stairs, until they found the computer room. Even with the power down, HYDRA didn’t have trouble gathering their men in the fight zone. A group of them found the two women and started firing. Lucy morphed and took down two agents by sinking her fangs in the jugular. A guy jumped on her and she fell on a table nearby, just in front of the tainted bay window.

Their comms were ringing with sounds of gunfire, sporadic messages from the rest of the team in different parts of the compound to each other, and grunting as though they were engaged in combat. She couldn’t see Natasha anywhere, she was vaguely aware of a thing rolling down on the floor, bipping fast.

“Natasha!” And then the thing exploded, sending Lucy flying outside the window. The agent took the most of the blast, him being between the bomb and Lucy and had shielded her. But she had been the one to meet the window first, with only her arms to protect her as she had morphed back into a human form. _Cats always land on their feet_ didn’t seem to apply to her in this case, as she hit the floor at great speed and rolled a few meters, ending on her side.

 She groaned loudly, her eyes shut and her ears ringing. Her face was stinging too. After a moment, she slowly put herself into a sitting position, a hand on the ground for support. She touched her face and her hand came out with blood.The ringing stopped and she looked up towards the shattered window above her but the dark smoke was to see through.

“Natasha!” she coughed as she tried to shout. Her hand flew to her ear only to find…her ear. _What the…oh no. The mic._ She cursed and tried not to panic. She thought about following the battle noises, maybe on her right, on the other building of the compound but suddenly, she went very still. Her ears morphed instantly, moving at odd angles from each other and trying to pinpoint the sudden noise, as she stared at nothing. She quickly stood up and headed towards the noise: a small storage on her left.

~

The Black Widow extracted herself from the debris, knocking the last agent still moving out cold in the process. She checked her pockets for the small flash drive with the Intel she had managed to save before they got attacked and a HYDRA moron threw a grenade in the room, destroying a good part of the computers. She had heard Lucy calling her name seconds before the blast but it had seemed so far away…

“Lucy! Lucy where are you?” The young woman was nowhere to be seen. Natasha went for the hole in the wall which used to be window and frenetically scanned the area below her in hope to see her friend. A part of herself was relieved Lucy wasn’t lying motionless on the ground meters and meters below her. But her heart started beating faster as she couldn’t see Lucy anywhere. “Guys, I lost Lucy. I repeat, I lost sight on her!” she said into her mic, which had thankfully stayed in place. A second after, her mic came to life, nearly busting her eardrum.

“What did you just say?!” Sam shouted over gunfire, “What the hell?!” Bucky exclaimed and Clint asked “Where are you Nat?”

“Everybody calm down!” Steve said, trying to sound as calm as possible, given the fact there were three goons on him, who refused to be knocked down.

“How did that happen?” Wanda asked slowly like she was focused on something else but was trying to talk anyway. “Tony… can you try something?”

“Her earpiece’s off. I can’t reach her.” Tony said.

“A moron dropped a grenade in the control room.” Natasha explained, “Most of the computers are destroyed, the window’s smashed, I guess Lucy fell with the force of the blast but she disappeared. I can go and find her-“

“No. You are too far away. See if you can save any data from the remaining computers. Find Clint and Wanda.” Steve said, “Bucky?”

Understanding the unspoken question, Bucky lost no time leaving the tunnel where he was with Sam, saying “I’ll find her.”

~

Lucy was progressing alone in the maze of corridors, randomly opening doors, only to find them empty, tightening her grip on her gun each time she did so. The noise was slowly getting louder, all her senses were in alert, her eyes glowing in low light. Something was definitively off…She opened a door, leading to another dark corridor. The sound stopped. This time she felt the presence of somebody. Her body tensed, spotting the stranger far on her left. A woman. Smelling fear.

The dark haired woman dropped something on the ground from her right hand: a whistle. She looked at Lucy dead in the eye like she was waiting for something. Putting her hands away for her gun, Lucy put them up in a non threatening way.

“Who are you?” she asked, suspiciously. _Oh man, this is awkward…and weird_. The woman said nothing, instead started fidgeting. “Hey can you hear me?” Still no answer. It was becoming frustrating. The scared woman wasn’t armed and wasn’t wearing any common HYDRA gear- not that Lucy had much opportunity to compare. Lucy took a small step forward.

“You’re scared…Why are you here?” A second step. “Why the whistle?”

“Now you’re asking the right questions!” a still too familiar voice said. The woman slightly winced and Lucy’s heart race fastened. Her claws now out, she looked around her to find the provenance of the voice.

“Show yourself Irina!” she exclaimed.

“I don’t think so.” Lucy noticed the speakers in the corners of the corridor. “See, we knew you’d come, I had it all planned.”

“How did-“

“Oh please Lucy! We knew where you were, we knew the Avengers way of thinking. They would come here as soon as they got location. They don’t think, they’re impulsive, just like you. You ask for the whistle? But to bring you here! All alone, without the Winter Soldier or any X-men to keep you safe…”

“What-“ Lucy made a step backwards in horror. The X men were here? “It can’t be-“

“Soon, your little friends will be greeted with one of our new Asset…well not an Asset yet…did you know you couldn’t simply wipe a mutant’s memory ? Electric chair doesn’t work well with your kind-“

But Lucy wasn’t listening anymore and tried to make it to the door.

“Stop her!” Irina barked. As soon as she said it, the woman came crashing on Lucy, sending her on the ground. Lucy instantly morphed, and tried to claw her opponent. Instead of flesh, her claws met a hard surface on the woman’s arms.

“Who-who are you?” Lucy whispered, struggling to escape her grip.

“You’ll join us Lucy, as soon as we destroy the family you have. HYDRA’s mutant army will be the achievement of decades of work in the dark. The Winter Soldier will be a toy compared to what you’ll become in our hands.” Irina was still talking, her voice echoing in the corridor. “We’re designing a collar for our assets, we wouldn’t want to damage their brains,…even you can be tamed.”

“Shut up!!” Lucy growled. She kept hitting and dodging but the mutant in front of her didn’t seem to feel anything, protected by her kind of grey dermal armor in her arms. Lucy threw a chair at her and had the time to draw her gun. She shot at the speakers. The mutant took it as an opportunity to hit her hard in the stomach and take her gun as Lucy stumbled, breathless. She crushed the gun in her hands.

“Why are you doing this? We-we can help you.” Lucy coughed. “You still have you free will…”

“You don’t understand!” the dark haired woman said, her voice wavering. Looking at her, Lucy noticed her glassy eyes. “I have to!” she sobbed. Taking advantage of her moment of weakness, Lucy sucker punched her, knocking her unconscious. She fell heavily on the ground and Lucy stepped over her.

“I’m sorry I didn’t want to hurt you, but I have to get to my friends.”

~

She ran her way back outside as if her life depended on it. She had to warn the others, tell them it was all HYDRA’s plan and that they had to leave before something bad happened, _like the X men coming_ she thought. She kept running, even faster. But when she pushed the door that led outside, the sight in front of her confirmed her it was too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really good at cliffhangers but man, they're cool ! So i hope you liked it, tell me what you thought about it in the comments :) Thank for the kudos and the sweet comments it really made my day every time !  
> I leave on Sunday for a two week summer camp in the south of France and i won't have access to my computer. I'll try my best to post a new chapter right after !  
> Sorry for the mistakes :)  
> Stay beautiful !


	19. Falling to pieces Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys...miss me? *cough*  
> I'm sorry. Long story short: I didn't have WiFi, then i didn't have inspiration, then my school started and now we are here, 3 months minus 1 day after the last chapter. Ugh. Again, sorry.  
> Anyway, here's finally a super long chapter (by my standards) with a lot of stuff going on to make it up to you. I really hope you enjoy it!

Bucky had a lot going on his mind and was remembering the odd behavior of Lucy. It had all started when Lucy had begun behaving strangely the day before they had gotten location on the Hydra cell. He had found her crying in the corridor but she hadn’t told him why. Then, the morning after, when they had told her she was coming, he had seen the look of terror on her face, she did a good job hiding. She had disappeared right after, and had seemed scared and anxious until the take off. And now, he had a bad feeling about this entire operation. A very bad feeling.

He sprinted toward the place where Lucy had last been seen, taking in his surroundings. He stopped just below the shattered window.

“Natal-Natasha, position?” Bucky said, squinting his eyes above him, his glare on the still-smoking gaping hole in the building in front of him. Thanks goodness Thor had stopped the rain as soon as they have infiltrated the building. It would have been a pain in the ass otherwise.

The answer came from Barton. “She’s still with Wanda and I, out there somewhere on the second floor, taking care of- Wanda I don’t think it’s a good…ah nevermind- the rest of the bad guys sent here.”

“Did you find anything Buck?” Steve asked, a bit out of breath. Bucky had crouched next to the body of the Hydra agent who had fallen with Lucy and was observing the scene. For a second, it drew him back to another mission, a mission where he had taken down the target by throwing him out a window but a witness had managed to escape and had had to be taken care of as well. A scared young woman…begging him to let her live… “-cky…Bucky!” Bucky found himself fists clenched and breathing hard when he realized Steve was talking to him. “Bucky do you copy? Are you okay?”

Bucky’s glare focused and he frowned as he picked up something from the ground. “I’m fine Steve stop worrying. I found Lucy’s earpiece.” he said bluntly.

“Do you know which way she went?” Sam asked.

“She took the left.” Bucky said matter-of-factly.

“How do you know?” Bucky rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know Wilson, maybe because there’re footprints to the left, and there’s a building there.”

“Alright guys there’s no need to –“ Steve started.

“Barnes, someone’s coming over you. From behind.” Tony stated, looking at his screen. Clint approached the window and bended his bow.

“It’s taken care of Sarge. Go find Lucy.” Clint said, ready to shoot. But at the sight of the incomer, he faltered. “Wait…it’s a civilian?” Natasha came from behind him, not even looking at him but instead staring suspiciously at the running form in the distance.

“It’s too odd...” she murmured. Clint frowned and aimed his bow once again.

“Should I send him a warning?”

“Please do.” Clint was about to shoot when… ***BAMF***. It all happened in a second: Wanda was suddenly thrown off balance with a startled cry, losing control over two Hydra agents who fell unconsciously down the stairs of their floor, as Clint and Natasha jerked their head at the same time. Clint’s mouth dropped as Natasha’s eyes widened: Wanda had been sent sprawling into broken furniture and a blue furred creature with a…ok that’s a tail. And three fingered hands. And yellow eyes, had pinned her down.

Natasha lost no time taking her gun and starting to shoot at him. Wanda rolled and shielded her head as more stuff was blowing up right next to her. But the creature simply disappeared.

“Where is he?” Natasha exclaimed angrily as she shot at one dude who was trying to come in through a window.

“Why?” Wanda wheezed, trying to process what has just happened, as Clint came to help her up. Natasha was recharging her gun when he came back with that seemingly characteristic sound.

“I’m right here.” he said with a German accent, easily dodging Natasha’s bullets. “I feel like I should introduce myself: Nightcrawler, at your service.”

“And he speaks as well.” Wanda said, still stunned. The remaining agents started to shoot at him but seeing how Nightcrawler was kicking their collective butts, it was in vain.

“Wanda, come on no time for daydreaming!” Clint exclaimed as the fight was becoming mayhem. Wanda seemed to come to life at Barton’s words and, using her power, started to throw furniture at great speed to everyone in the room except for the two spies. “Cap, we have a situation! They are still on Bucky and we have some sort of blue demon playing hide and seek while kicking butts and-“ Clint started.

“What?” Sam exclaimed in his mic, not understanding most of Barton’s rambling.

Nightcrawler, who had reappeared in the meantime to hear Barton, sharply turned his head toward him with an exaggerated shocked expression. "What a horrible thing to say! Words hurt, fella. Try to show a little compassion!"

Clint opened his mouth but thought better of it and closed it, as Steve was trying to make sense of what was happening.

“Our priority is to find Lucy.” he was saying, “Try to keep the blue guy busy-“

“Who is he anyway?” Wanda cut him.

“A mutant, most certainly.” Natasha stated matter-of-factly. “From Xavier’s school"

"Yes indeed." Nightcrawler said.  Steve was trying to think quickly.

“Stark? Find Bucky.”

“Already on it.”

~

His thoughts were too loud for him to hear anything of the conversation that was going on into his right ear. _Why would Lucy go there?_ Because he knew they had not dragged her in this building, for there was only one pair of footprints. Why didn’t she try to go back to the others? And at the same time, he once again thought about her odd behavior these last days as she had always been evasive when he had asked her if she was okay. Or when she had shed a few tears when he had told her he trusted her that night he had found her crying in the hallway.

 And now he had a bad feeling about this entire operation and his anxiousness was growing fast as he found nearly nobody on his way to the building. He knew he was being tailed, but so far it hadn’t been a problem.

“Steve I’m just outside the building.” he finally said into his mic. At the same moment, a figure appeared from the shadows and jumped on him, making him fall to the ground hard.

~

Natasha thought their situation couldn’t get any worse at the moment, until Tony flew just outside their floor. Nightcrawler suddenly stopped dodging as Wanda threw a computer at him.

“I gotta go!” he exclaimed and he disappeared, leaving the three of them staring at each other in the middle of broken furniture, a few remaining agents and lifeless bodies.

~

“Jarvis, who’s this guy?” Tony asked as he headed toward the opposite of his current position. He had just spotted the guy below him but more important, his face. A series of information appeared on his screen.

“Andrew Morgan, sir.” Tony silently cursed.

“Guys, he’s the mutant who was kidnapped by Hydra a while ago!” he exclaimed. At that moment, Andrew, who was, up to this point, trying to progress in the shade of various equipment on the area, finally noticed Bucky and left his spot behind a car and started sprinting again. Tony dove and shot at a car just in front of Andrew who stumbled, just before falling, and looked above him with terror-lit eyes.

“Stop right where you are Andrew. I don’t want to use these on you.”  was what he heard through the Iron Man’s mask, one hand repulsor aimed at him.  But as terrified as Andrew was, he stayed still no more than a few seconds before rushing toward where Bucky was standing, a few meters away, struggling with a bulky Hydra agent.

“You little – I told you to stop!” Tony said, frustrated and his hand repulsor made its characteristic sound, ready to shoot at him. But the thing is, there was no blast. Instead, he heard all the systems in his armor beginning to disfunction, his screen becoming blurry as if he had somehow lost connection. “Jarvis! What’s happening?!”

Jarvis’ voice came garbled and scattered. “the syst- the system-em’s workings ha-have been disrupt-ed, sir.”

Tony widened his eyes, keeping the rising panic at bay. That kind of problem had happened to him before. Once. And he didn’t want to remember it.

“Wha-Why ? How? Jarvis, how ?” Tony exclaimed, struggling to keep himself in the air. Then, through his mask, he saw a figure _floating_ in the air just in front of him. He was clearly losing his mind, wasn’t he? It couldn’t be Wanda, but it was definitively a woman. She had long brown hair, loosely pulled up in a rather messy ponytail. She had a yellow and black bodysuit and was currently glaring at him, a million emotions flickering in her eyes, from shock and anger to satisfaction and a bit of admiration.

“Surprise Mister Stark!” she grinned. NOt waiting for an answer she moved on. “What’s’ a matter, you never seen a teenage all American ghost before?”

“Well, now that you mention it…” was Tony’s clever answer.

~

After taking two bullets in the fight, Bucky had come to hands with the Hydra agent when Andrew approached them, hidden behind a truck, breathless and heart pounding furiously in his chest from the chase. He looked up to the sky and despite the darkness, he caught sight of the Iron Man and the intangible woman who had passed right through his armor and had effectively damaged it, facing each other. Cold sweat rolled down his cheek. He knew what he had to do. He knew what would happen if he didn’t do it.

At the moment Bucky finally took down the bulky agent, Andrew stepped out of the shadows to end up facing the ex assassin, the building just behind him. They stared at each other, Bucky breathing hard and his deadly glaze piercing holes into Andrew’s skin.

Bucky was pissed. At this point, nothing was making sense anymore and he just wanted to find Lucy already. Now a strange civilian (the one keeping following him obviously), about to pee his pants, was currently blocking his way to the building and assessing him, as if he was scheming something in this scared brain of his. And this, Bucky knew, wasn’t good. Strangely, neither of them made a move toward the other. The man in front of Bucky kept his hands in front of him, palms towards him, in a sort of placating gesture.

Finally, Bucky sighed and broke the awkward silence. “Listen kid, I don’t wanna hurt you. So stop staring at me and move. You have nothing to do here.” He took one step closer and could see the man in front of him fighting the urge to take one step back.

“I won’t let you do it.” His voice came out unsteady, though his gaze stayed fierce and determined. Bucky faced him again, confusion and surprise written on his face.

“What?” he asked harshly. The gaunt young man slightly flinched at his tone but, finding the guts to look up at the Winter Soldier again, cleared his throat and said louder “I won’t let you open that door.” To illustrate what he said, he spread out his arms again in front of him. Instantly his eyes turned from brown to gold, and Bucky, who was standing only a few feet away from him, suddenly hunched over and grabbed his head, falling to his knees.

Bucky suddenly found trouble breathing as his heart rate brutally increased. He couldn’t focus properly on the ground below him. Waves of repressed frustration, anger and even dread he had tried his best to keep at bay were slowly overwhelming him.

“Good…ok,good…” Andrew was muttering to himself, watching Bucky intently, his piercing golden eyes boring holes into him.

In a moment of lucidity Bucky understood that it was this man who was playing with his mind and, out of a sudden rush of rage he lunged at him, crashing into him and knocking him down to the ground.

Andrew hit the ground hard and got the air expelled from his lungs from the impact. His heart pounding like it was going to come out of his chest, he tried to squeeze his way out of the mad assassin’s grip but Bucky was pinning him down hard enough to bruise.

“…I didn’t expect this much anger and pain…even coming from you…You surprised me Sold-“ Andrew stuttered, Bucky suddenly putting pressure on his windpipe. Surprisingly, Andrew found that he could control the tremor of his voice and, gathering the courage he had, added to the assassin above him, “ Look at you Soldier. When did you get this broken?...You’ve been long lost Soldier, now you need Hydra…only then, you’ll be whole again.” The last words came as a hoarse whisper but Andrew got the reaction he wanted from the Asset.

“HYDRA told me I was a gift to mankind.” Bucky seethed, through clenched teeth, “That lie doesn’t work anymore.”

Despite himself, Andrew let out a short strangled laugh. “So you consider HYDRA lied to you…But you think your partners trustworthy?” In a burst of energy, Andrew grabbed Bucky’s right wrist. His irises becoming gold again, he smiled as if he knew something Bucky didn’t, and as if Bucky wasn’t currently slowly choking him. “I'm sure you know who i'm talking about…her name is... Lucy, I believe. I’m afraid she used you.”

 A look of confusion crossed Bucky’s features,  who stared blankly at the man, just for a second. He blinked the confusion away and pulled him up harshly by his collar, Andrew ending up a foot above the ground, desperately grasping at Bucky’s metal arm.

“Who the hell are you?” Bucky growled, spitting out the last words. Before Andrew even got a chance to answer, he found himself being thrown a few meters away, gasping for air and only semi conscious. “Tell me.” Andrew didn’t look up at the Russian assassin but definitely heard the safety of a gun be turned off not far from him.

All at a sudden, they heard a banging sound and Andrew first thought he had just been shot after all. _It would have been for the better…I deserved it_ , he thought before realizing he was still alive. He blinked a few times and eventually caught a glimpse of a blue creature whipping the Winter Soldier with its tail hard enough to send him flying backward. Grunting and blind in rage, the Winter Soldier stared firing at the alien in front of him.

The situation couldn’t be worse, when he heard the door open behind him on his right.

(Present moment)

Short of breath, Lucy pulled the door with the weight of her body. The door swinging open, she stumbled and nearly fell over a man’s body.

“Oh my god !!” she exclaimed, horrified, but then, the legs she stumbled on, moved. She was about to kneel and check on the mysterious civilian when she realized there were firing guns sounds just in front of her. She looked up and her breath caught. _Impossible.._. _It couldn’t be…_

“No. Nononononono Bucky…Bucky ! Bucky stop !!!”she shouted desperately, scuttling toward them, feeling her world falling apart. The X men were here and more specifically _Kurt was here_ and was being currently _shot at_ by the man she loved. But something was definitely wrong with Bucky. A movement in the air got her attention and her jaw dropped. _Kitty was here too_ and Tony was having problems with his suit, here on her left and far on her right, Sam was skimming over the smoking buildings. It was mayhem.

Somehow, Kurt had been hurt and was on the ground. Totally oblivious of Lucy'spresence only a few feet away from them, Bucky paused and took a second to aim the gun in his direction, for a final shot. With a roar, Lucy morphed and lunged forward, with enough force to send the both of them rolling on the ground. Fortunately, Bucky’s gun had been lost, and Lucy (now a complete mountain lion), got up a growled ferociously at the ex HYDRA assassin, shielding Kurt behind her.

“Lucy? What are *you* doing here?!” Kurt muttered, emphasizing the ‘you’ as if the idea of her being part of the mission didn’t crossed his mind a second. Deciding to ignore him for now, Lucy morphed back in front of Bucky.

“You!” There was so much rage in this single word that if she wasn’t facing Bucky she would have turned to see if there was somebody else talking to her.

 “Bucky” she began in a voice she wanted calm and assured. “Please calm down-“

“Don’t tell me to calm down, Cooper.” he spat in a cold and lifeless tone. “Who’s he?”

Lucy glanced quickly at Kurt who had gotten up and was standing behind her a few feet on her left. She looked back at Bucky and opened her mouth but couldn’t make out a word. Bucky took a step closer, his posture threatening. “WHO’S HE?” he yelled and Lucy’s hands flew defensively in front of her, palms toward him, her claws already out.

“He’s an X man!” She blurted, starting to freak out, “Bucky, what the heck is going on?”

“ And you tell me he’s not that rogue Russian assassin anymore…” Kurt muttered and Lucy crossed her fingers that Bucky didn’t hear that.

Bucky laughed nervously, and Lucy frowned. “What’s going on?! You’re asking me what’s going on? You’ve been lying to me the whole time ! You’ve been lying to the entire team ! What kind of person are you?”

The comment stung and Lucy responded defensively “It’s not what you think…”

But Bucky pressed on, oblivious of her answer. “ How can I know you didn’t do all this on purpose? You were in cahoots with him all along" he growled, pointing at Kurt, "and you informed the mutants we would be here tonight, didn't you!”

Despite herself, Lucy paled. “ Bucky-yes I admit I contacted Kurt a few times when I was at the Stark Tower, but you have to understand that we are friends! I didn’t know how to tell you and- and I have no idea this would go this far…You have to believe me!”

“You jeopardized the entire mission Lucy! By lying and spying on us! And you didn’t know this would end this way?”

“ I didn’t lie! I just never told you about me being part of the X men!”

“From the beginning, you were only acting, playing the victim,or the good friend. Living a double life…All that to get information!” As he shouted, he raised his arms in an offensive way, still getting closer to her.

“Stop it Bucky!” she cried angrily, hurt by his words, stepping back. “Don’t be like this.”

“Like what? Like WHAT Lucy!?” he exclaimed.

Her eyes narrowed.“I don’t want to be scared of you-”

“Oh but you should be! As your blue alien pointed out, I’m that rogue Russian assassin, remember?!” Bucky stared hard at her, pointing at Kurt again, who had come closer to Lucy.

“You’re not that.” Lucy whispered, her voice thin.

“Because you know me so well don’t you.” Bucky retorted. “You lied to me.” he said for the third time, “You used me.”

“I didn’t…”

“Yes you did!” he shouted. Looking past him, Lucy caught sight of Steve and Natasha approaching them and Tony, who finally crash-landed a bit farther.

That was it. “You don’t listen to anything I try to say!” she shouted back, gesturing with her hands, “I knew there was a chance you wouldn’t understand if I told you I was part of the X men! And I wanted to tell you, but I had promised I wouldn’t! And you know why? Because I know how you consider mutants. How the Avengers consider mutants. And I want to protect the people I love!” As she shouted, she felt tears welling up in her eyes. She blinked them away and willed herself not to let a single tear fall in front of Bucky.

“The people you love…” Bucky seemed stunned by her words and stared at her without speaking. Finally, he stiffened and said in an icy tone, “So that’s where your heart truly belongs. I guess being part of the avengers has never been your priority.”

Lucy stared at him in disbelief, wide-eyed. “You know me better than that. I love you.” she murmured in a breaking voice. By now, Sam, Steve and Natasha were surely able to hear them, for Steve had begun jogging in their direction, Clint and Wanda coming just after them.

“I have no idea who you are.” His voice was cold and dead, his stone eyes locked with hers, regarding her as if she were a stranger.

She stared at him blankly, devastated. “I see.” she whispered for herself. She stepped back and turned on her heels, blinking away the tears. She noticed that the stranger who was lying next to the building’s door had vanished and that Kitty was standing just next to her with Kurt but she didn’t care. Kurt drew his arm around her shoulders, Kitty took his hand and as she heard “Wait, Lu-“ from Steve, they vanished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right. So, what needed to happen, happened. Hope i didn't disappoint anyone. That was both really hard and fun to write.  
> I promise, i won't take 3 months to post another chapter this time !  
> Stay beautiful and thank you for passing by !! <3  
> Don't forget to leave kudos :)
> 
> P.S: sorry for the mistakes :)


	20. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the 20th chapter yey! So here's what happens just after their mission...  
> Thanks for all the kudos people, you're the best i love you so much *blows kisses in the air*

They reappeared in the middle of an empty street, surrounded by trees and bushes. The street was poorly lit and electric cables were fixed on wooden sticks. A dog was barking loudly somewhere in the neighborhood. Lucy blinked and her breath caught, tensing. She violently pulled away from Kurt and took a few steps ahead, not knowing where she was going, and grabbed her head with both hands, squeezing her eyes shut. After a moment, Kurt reached out for her.

“All’s gonna be fine.” he whispered, soothingly, drawing a hand for her right arm. Instead Lucy flinched and let out a low threatening growl and he pulled back sadly. He turned and caught Kitty observing him worriedly, a lot of unanswered questions in her gaze. Deciding this was not the best time, she opted for pointing out the obvious.

“This was a long shot.” she said quietly. “You’re okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine.” Kurt answered, his attention drawn back to Lucy who was visibly struggling between the idea of not breaking down or on the contrary, throw a tremendous fit. He studied her and her bloody face and finally declared “This won’t do.”

Once again, he approached her and this time Lucy let him do. He turned her so that she was facing him and he gently wiped the smears of blood on her brow and cheeks. A tear rolled down her cheek.

“You were right…you were so right Kurt…” Lucy whispered through clenched teeth, opening her eyes, trembling. He took her under his arm again and half hugged her before starting to walk, supporting her and murmuring soothing words to her.

Before Lucy could recognize where they were going, they were in front of a wooden door. Kitty knocked loudly and Lucy seemed to come back to herself.

“Wha-“ She knew that door. ”Why? Kurt no! I can’t…Look at me, I’m a mess!” Lucy stepped back, sobbing. “I can’t…This is so messed up…And-and you were so right Kurt! I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry I didn’t listen to you! And now he hates me because I’m a liar-“ she was cut off by Kitty who hugged her tightly, rubbing her back.

 With a strangled noise, Lucy wrapped her arms around her friend. “I failed you. And I failed them too. He was right: I’m a traitor…And because of me Kurt is hurt.” Fortunately, Kurt and Kitty were able to make out what Lucy was saying, her voice being muffled by Kitty’s suit.

“It is but a scratch!” Kurt said, making Lucy look up from Kitty’s shoulder. At her frown, he developed, “Really! I mean the bullet merely grazed my thigh” he turned and inspected his injured leg, “See? Nothing to worry about.”

“ _You_ did your best in a very tough situation. And _he_ is the asshole, for thinking selfishly and humiliating and dumping you the way he did.”

At that moment, they heard rummaging inside the house and an indistinct voice. A light switched on and illuminated the window on their right. Lucy unconsciously shifted so as to be behind Kurt and Kitty. The door suddenly opened, blinding the three mutants.

“Linda, I already told you we don’t own a dog, it is behind the house, what’s wrong with you it’s like 4 in the mor-!” the woman wearing a thick light blue robe and fuzzy slippers, who standing in the door frame brutally stopped her slightly French accented diatribe when she took a closer look at the people in front of her, cocking her brows in surprise.

Kurt took it as an opportunity to step forward. “Good morning Juliette” he said with an apologetic smile, “We’re sorry to wake you up but there was an emergency.” The small woman, who seemed to be in her mid fifties, stared at him, all previous anger forgotten. Instead, she opened the door wider to give her more light, and readjusted her robe tightly around her.

“Kurt? Kurt, what’s going on?” she asked, genuinely worried. “Kitty dear, is that you? Are you alright? she looked at the younger mutant and seemed to check her for any injuries.

“I’m fine Juliette, don’t worry.” The teenage girl reassured her. “We’re here for…” her words died when Lucy, who had stayed silent and hidden behind them, chose that moment to step past them, into the light.

“Hi mom.” she murmured, looking up at Juliette to see her breath catch.

~

“Cap are you alright?” Barton exclaimed, approaching Steve, who was knelt on the ground and cradling his now bloody nose. Instead of answering the question, he looked down at the unconscious body at his feet and sighed sadly.

“I don’t understand what happened…” he whispered in a nosy voice. “What has gotten into him?”

Natasha was crouched next to him and frowned at Steve’s best friend, deep in thought. “He was so enraged and confused he could have done a number on you Rogers.” she commented, putting back her batons in place on her body.

When she had seen Bucky attack Steve for no apparent reason after Lucy disappeared, she had thought he had snapped and was in his Winter Soldier mode. Steve had been completely taken by surprise and had already been on the ground when she had caught up with them. She knew she had done the right think when she had crashed into the former Russian assassin, to prevent him from beating up his friend more than he already had. After a brief close combat, she managed to knock him down efficiently with one of her batons. He had fallen down in a thud and was now surrounded by Clint, Steve, whose nose was still bleeding, _probably broken_ Natasha thought.

“This is very similar to what you did to me when I tried to take you down in that Helicarrier, don’t you think?” Clint spoke up.

Natasha smiled a little at the memory. “Yeah. Cognitive re-calibration. Works wonders.”

“We should bring him back to the Jet. And try to understand what the hell happened here.” the archer proposed. As soon as his words left his mouth, Steve put Bucky over his broad shoulders, in a fireman carry and headed wordlessly towards the Jet, leaving Natasha and Clint to follow behind him.

~

 “But how on earth did we manage to fuck everything up so bad? In a few hours?!” Tony exclaimed, pacing in the Quinjet.

“Do I have to remind you of Ultron?” Pietro snorted for himself from his corner.

“It was a trap. They knew we would come. And they have new Assets.” Sam said matter of factly, arms crossed. “Mutant Assets.”

“Speaking of that, what the hell happened with Barnes?!” Clint asked from the cockpit. “What’s wrong with him? He completely lost it back there!”

Tony rubbed his face, to clear his head. Man, their situation was crappy.  He glanced at Steve who was cleaning the blood of his face. His nose, while being broken, was fortunately already showing signs of healing. _Lucky_ , Tony thought. Sighing, he turned to face the team.

“I couldn’t see a lot –my suit actively giving up on me the whole time thanks to the freaky teenage girl who was levitating in front of me but whatever- but he was definitively fighting with, Andrew Morgan, the little guy Barton wanted to shoot.” he said.

“So that man did something bad on our comrade?” Thor was trying to understand the whole thing.

“Yes indeed. He completely messed up his mind!” Tony exclaimed, throwing one hand in the air. “I heard what he was yelling at Lucy, it was harsh.”

Wanda had been silent all this time, thinking about this night’s events and their consequences on her friends. She was observing each member of the team, deciphering their emotions. Hurt, confusion, frustration, anger, sadness. Powerlessness. Betrayal at a certain point.

 Bucky had been sedated for security, much to Steve’s opposition, to be stitched up by Bruce. Thor, Steve, Tony and Sam were engaged in a conversation, trying to figure out what had gone wrong in their mission. Natasha was silent too, observing the others like her, from her corner of the Jet. She looked at Loki and resisted the urge to read his mind, to know what he was hiding behind his mask of indifference and emotional detachment.

Loki was silently seething. Once again, the Avengers did a tremendous job trying to save the day. All had gone wrong from the moment they had left Lucy enter the building. None of them had suspected anything, yet HYDRA had played with them tonight. He had wanted to break something when he and Banner had heard that Lucy was nowhere to be found.  And letting the broken soldier taking care of finding her had been a huge mistake. He knew Lucy was hiding something, but he honestly didn’t expect her little secrets would lead them this far.

“He enhanced the fears and doubts he already had. He read his mind and knew exactly what to say to put Bucky on edge and get him to lose control. Andrew basically played with his mind.” Wanda put in, breaking the silence and causing everyone to turn and watch her intently. Noticing their reaction, she didn’t have to read _their_ mind to know what they were all thinking at that moment, for they all knew she had done the same thing to them. Steve looked at Bucky worriedly, still unconscious on a stretcher near him.

“But these doubts, these…fears he had turned out to be quite true.” Natasha pointed out, breaking the silence. “Bucky had noticed how odd Lucy behaved at times too and had probably begun to wonder why. And he wasn’t the only one.” she muttered. At her words, Tony paused, frowning.

“And you’re telling me you had suspicions the all time Romanoff?!” Tony exclaimed in disbelief.

“The girl was acting strange at times, but you’re the one telling me not to be paranoid!” Natasha replied tensely. “Everyone has secrets, Tony.”

“Truer words have never been spoken, Romanoff…” the engineer snorted. Natasha was well known for keeping a lot to herself.

The redhead crossed her arms of her chest. “You do know we didn’t tell her what would happen to the mutants we would have caught don’t you? You do know we have a growing list of declared mutants, who are on watch, for the population’s security. We didn’t tell her about Xavier’s school neither. How long would you have kept that from her?”

“And now we found out she was in touch with the X men from the beginning and she disappeared with two of them.” Sam resumed. “This whole thing must have been hard for her…” An uncomfortable silence followed, each one of them measuring the consequences of a lack of honesty and trust between them.

 Where was she now? Had she really been playing with them all along? No. They didn’t want to believe that. Still, this mission had globally been a failure, safe for the information Natasha had managed to save on her flash drive, with these Assets, the two X men appearing out of nowhere and their friend disappearing with them after a violent argument she and Bucky had had. Steve didn’t want to think about what Bucky’s reaction will be once he wakes up.

“What are we gonna do now?” Pietro asked quietly, looking hopefully at the team.

“We’re gonna find a way out of this shit we put ourselves into.” Tony declared thoughtfully, a new silence following his words.

“What have we done…?” Steve sighed for himself, letting himself drop on one sit and putting his head on his hands.

~

Juliette still couldn’t believe it. As soon as she recognized the soot-covered young woman as her Lucy, she had immediately woken up her husband. After months of silence, her daughter was finally in front of her. But in what state ? Kurt and Kitty had left a few moments ago, after briefly explaining the situation to them. Though they tried to be as precise as they could, the truth is they didn’t know much more than Lucy had told Kurt, and Juliette knew she would have to interrogate Lucy to understand why she hadn’t been in touch with her in the first place, and why Kurt and Kitty had talked about her being with the Avengers, among other things. But for now, she and her husband had more urgent things to deal with.

~

Lucy quickly showered and washed her hair, the hot spray hitting hard on her bruises on her shoulder and back from her bad fall. She combed through it with her fingers, she shut the water off before stepping out and grabbing a towel. While under the hot water, she had allowed herself to cry, the adrenaline of the late night finally draining out of her. Now she was looking at her reflection on the big mirror in her parents’ bathroom. There was a massive bruise on her right scapula, already turning in a painful rainbow of brown and purple. Another one, smaller, was on her hip. _So much for trying to be a hero,_ she thought bitterly _, even in gymnastics I haven’t managed to hurt myself so bad._ With her puffy and reddened eyes, and glass cuts on her face, she looked like… _like shit_. And she surely felt like it.

 _“Chérie_ , would you come out of the bathroom?” her mother asked softly just outside the bathroom door.

Lucy sighed and tore her gaze from the mirror. She looked at the clothes her mom had brought for her- she had recognized them from the time she still lived here-: a bright blue tank top with the name of her gym club on it (probably a bit tight) and one of her yoga pants she didn’t bring with her in her place at Xavier’s school. “Coming.”

“Hold still.” she warned quietly, even if she had the feeling Lucy wouldn’t have moved an inch even if she hadn’t said anything. They were in the kitchen, Lucy sitting on a chair, while Juliette applied steri-strips on her cuts on her brow and cheek bone. Juliette had woken up her husband when Lucy had gone to shower and had explained to him the situation. At first, he had wanted to immediately go and check on his daughter but she had told him to give her space, because Lucy seemed pretty shaken.

He was in the kitchen, preparing tea silently, deep in thoughts. He needed his hands to be busy. Even if he could hardly feel what he was doing with them. Why had Lucy waited so long before letting know how she was ? If it wasn’t for Kurt who had kept updating them, her mother would have been worried sick. What had she been thinking ?! And now she was pretty beaten up and oddly silent, seeing her like this only made him want to tear the ones who did that to her apart. But that was not the first beating she had taken, he remembered her training in the Danger Room with her fellow mutants, so why did she seem on the edge of a meltdown ?

“Please Lucy talk to us!” he finally exclaimed, desperate, violently putting down the mugs he’s been trying to hold.

“Scott!...” Juliette brushed away a strand of hair that had blown onto her face while she had stitched up Lucy, and looked at her husband, her face registering concern.

But Lucy nodded simply and stood up, doing her best to stay composed.

They all sat in the living room while Lucy explained the situation from the beginning- the reasons why she had left home to be a full time gymnast against her parents’ will, her having a different with Kurt at Xavier’s school to HYDRA finding her and keeping her for weeks before the Avengers, finally moving on to explaining her relationship with Bucky and the events that occurred sooner the day before. When she finished, Juliette took her hand.

“I’m gonna find that asshole and I’m gonna beat the shit out of him!” her father exclaimed, brutally rising from the couch, making Lucy flinch despite herself.

“Scott !” Juliette stared at him in shock, “Don’t talk like that!”

“Oh please Letty!” Scott started pacing in the room. “Did you hear what he did to our daughter?” he exclaimed, pointing at Lucy with both hands.

“He’s with the Avengers, Scott. The _Avengers_!” Juliette’s usually calm and melodious voice rose as well. “The heroes who saved New York! Who protect the world!” She dropped Lucy’s hand. “And they rescued her. Did you hear that?”

“And what if they are currently looking out for her? What if they find Lucy here and they want her back?” Scott asked, oblivious that Lucy had stood up and was slowly heading toward the door. “They probably think she betrayed them and now they will want to lock her up, because she is a mutant…like an animal!”

“They won’t lock her up Scott! You know that Xavier took care of that. They have very little on us. They can’t know where she is!” her wife replied, gesturing at the room around them. The tall man paused and looked around him.

“Where is Lucy?” he asked bluntly, causing Juliette to stare blankly at him. They turned their heads sharply towards the open door and Juliette let out a frustrated sigh. She headed towards the door but her husband gently grabbed her arm to stop her.

“Leave her be, Letty.” Scott murmured softly to his wife, all previous anger gone. “She didn’t go far, she’ll come back.”

“What happened to our daughter Scott?” Juliette asked desperately at her husband. Scott pulled her into a hug. “I want to help her but I feel like she didn’t say everything…”

“We’ll find a way, darling.” Scott whispered into her ear. “Like we always did. She’ll simply need some time.”

“Simply?” Juliette noticed his poor choice of words and looked at him with a cocked brow.

Scott sighed. “Come on you know what I meant, Letty!” Juliette smiled and pulled back.

“Yeah yeah _bien sûr._ ” Juliette replied. 

 “Not sure I’ll be able to go back to sleep, since it’s already like…5am.” he said, “But Lucy will probably be exhausted.”

“I’m going to see where she is.” Juliette informed.

~

She was sitting on the steps of the porch, her head on her hands. The air was chilly, and smelled of earth, fresh leaves and smoke.  She was tired to death, she was feeling the exhaustion of the past hours on her body. She thought about her friends she left behind, wondering what they were doing. She thought about Bucky.

The door opened behind her and she heard her mother approaching her and putting a conforting hand on her shoulder.

“Come inside, _trésor._ ” she said softly, motioning the inside of the house. “You’ll feel better after some sleep.”

Lucy ,who was pressing the palms of her hands on her closed eyes, looked up at her mother. “What have I done?” she whispered with a broken voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, i am not completely happy with how this chapter turned out idk but anyway i really hoped you enjoyed it. They will be more action in the future chapters i promise but i felt like this one was needed.  
> Don't hesitate to comment, positively, negatively, or a bit of both really, it really makes my day and it helps me improving the story !   
> i also wanted to apologize for the mistakes, it's not my native language and it's really late now and i tried my best for not being too late for this chapter.  
> Stay beautiful and i'll see you guys soon :D


	21. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For some reason i was in a Loki mood when i wrote this. So here some Loki. So much Loki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL !!!!  
> I'm so sorry for the long wait, i've been hit with a major lack of inspiration, added with the massive amount of work they gave us at school (i nearly died), and a week spent sneezing and crying my eyes out because of a cold...anyways guys, i'm so sorry.  
> I wanted to make it up to you with a long chapter, i hope you'll like it, it's my christmas gift to you, amazing readers !!!  
> I love you, thanks for being patient with me and thanks for the kudos !!  
> Enjoy !!

It had all started when he had been forced to join the Avengers in the common room for the evening. It had been a relatively calm day, so all of them had got more free time than the usual. Beers and sodas were on the table, along with a vast collection of snacks. Sam, Pietro, Clint and Bruce were chatting casually about the countries they would like to visit, drinks in hand. On one of the sofas, Natasha was listening to some Chinese lesson book with her headphones on. She was sprawled there in comfy clothes (the hooded sweatshirt she was wearing probably being stolen from Clint), mouthing words from times to times.

At her feet, Wanda and Lucy were painting their nails, also in comfy clothes, Wanda sticking to her trusted black nail polish and Lucy currently filing her nails to make them sharp. At the bar, Tony and Steve were discussing, or rather Steve was disapproving at Tony’s habit to keep so much booze in the kitchen. Thor had joined them as soon as the elevator doors opened, leaving him alone and angry. No one paid him attention, that fact not improving his mood. Soon though, Lucy lifted up her head from her right hand and spotted him still standing.

She waved faintly at him, a small encouraging smile on her face, her sudden move attracting Wanda’s attention who also greeted him silently from where she was on the floor. He made a move toward the two young women but as he did so he felt someone’s glare on him. Slightly turning his head to the left, he spotted Bucky observing him from his vantage point across the room. From where the broken soldier was, he could keep an eye on everything, including Lucy, while cleaning his rifle. Snorting, Loki summoned a book in his hand and all but let himself fall in one of the farthest sofas, letting everyone know how he was feeling about being around them. He opened his book and tried to forget all around him.

He had been so focused on the book he was reading that he hadn’t noticed the conversation around him had changed and the Avengers were all talking lively.

“Tony is such a dad though. Don’t you remember that time when he was mad because someone’s put coffee grounds in the disposal?” Wanda was saying.

Clint coughed. “I think it was me.”

“Legolas you’re so lucky I’m too comfortable right now to move and punch you.” Tony said before emptying his glass in one gulp. “Who raised you?” Loki turned his head toward the discussion, the book forgotten.

“My dad would have been the one putting coffee grounds in the disposal. And then my mom yelling at him for behaving like a 5 year old.” Sam said with a smile, making them laugh, except for Loki who frowned.

“But if Tony is the dad who is the mom?” Pietro asked. The room exploded with noises, each one of them debating the matter. Steve could be quite the mother hen sometimes, always making sure everyone’s need was fulfilled. The thought made everyone laugh, except Steve who covered his face with his hand, making even Bucky smile. But surprisingly, Natasha could take that role quite well too, when she took somebody under her wing.

“Aren’t we just a happy little family?” Wanda said, gesturing to all of them. She then hugged Lucy while “Awwwww”s could be heard from the Avengers-mostly from Clint. That’s when Loki brutally stood up, surprising Bruce who was the nearest. Some of them turned their heads, Thor eyeing him worriedly and Bucky frowning. Lucy immediately stopped laughing when she noticed the change in the air. Tony merely rolled his eyes.

“Right. Hits a bit too close to home for the adopted son, mmh?” Tony said, looking at the bottom of his glass, making Sam raise an eyebrow and turn his head toward Loki.

“Ouchie” whispered Clint as Steve’s eyes widened at Tony.

And that was too much for Loki to bear. He was just sick of it. He looked at Stark with a glare of pure hatred and humiliation before sharply turning on his heels and disappearing in a cloud of green smoke. As soon as he disappeared, Tony and Clint shared a glance, a smile playing on their lips, not believing what just happened.

“Well, that was smooth Tony.” Natasha deadpanned and Tony groaned, covering his face with his hands. Thor made a move to the elevator, maybe wanting to go after his brother but Steve gently put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“He’d probably want some time alone.” Pietro suggested. “Plus you’re not technically his brother so-“

“No need to make it worse Pietro.” Wanda glared at his brother. After an awkward silence, Bruce cleared his throat and rubbed his hands unconsciously.

“Anybody wants pizza?” he asked and the Avengers enthusiastically approved.

Later this evening, everybody was slowly leaving the common room. Bucky had ended up sitting next to Lucy at some point, nobody saying anything but sharing knowing glances as he did so. Tony had already left with Banner, succeeding in making himself drunk. Wanda and then Pietro had been the first to call it a night. Natasha had stayed a bit longer to talk with Steve before bidding him goodnight. Soon, only Steve, Bucky and Lucy were still up. She was snuggled against him, eating chips, and only half listening to thetwo super soldiers sharing memories but rather thinking about Loki’s behavior sooner that evening.

“Alright Buck. I think I’m gonna leave the two of you…it’s pretty late and all.” Steve stood up and Bucky chuckled. Lucy rolled her eyes at the blond soldier. Looking at his friend, Steve added “You should get some sleep too. I know you tend to forget that you need it.” Bucky dismissed the comment with a wave of metal hand.

“Whatever you say Stevie.” When Steve left at last, Lucy shifted and turned to face Bucky.

“He’s right you know. You should sleep more.” she said softly, looking at him in the eyes.

“It’s hard and you know why.” he replied dryly, averting his eyes from hers. When she looked at him with her mesmerizing green eyes, he felt like she could read him like an open book. She stayed silent for a few seconds, only to lean forward and kiss him on the cheek, squeezing his right arm.

“I know, Bucky, I know. But you gotta try okay? You’re nothing good skipping sleep like that. And you’re not alone in this, remember.” She smiled and brushed her fingers up and down along his arm. “We’re a family right?” And that made him look at her again. When she cocked an eyebrow expectantly, he nodded and wrapped his arm around her to hold her tight.

“C’mon. You need your beauty sleep too, doll.” With that, he picked her light grey track jacket and gave it back to her before standing up and heading toward the elevator.

“I’d like to talk to Loki before.” she said, the words escaping her mouth before she could think of it. When Bucky shot her a glare, she crossed her arms when the elevator’s doors closed. “Bucky, what Tony said what insensitive. I just want to make sure he’s alright.” The former assassin said nothing for a moment but eventually looked at the small woman and kissed her at the top of her head.

“You sure have a soft spot for messed up people.” he murmured in her ginger hair, making Lucy smile.

“Only because the ones I know are not messed up forever.”Lucy whispered back as Bucky left her when the elevator’s doors opened at his floor, leaving her to find Loki –who probably didn’t want to be found at this point-.

She wandered in the hallways for a moment, resisting the urge to just morph and pick up on scents but for some reason she thought that was a tad excessive. Seeing him anywhere, she knew he had to be where they both went when they wanted peace. The roof.

Like she’d hoped, the night sky was pretty clear. The three-quarter moon cast a faint silvery glow over the city and Lucy grinned as she took a deep breath of crisp cool air. She took a few steps, looking up at the sky and the stars. Her breath formed clouds in front of her and she couldn’t help but remember all the games she played at that time of the year when she was little. She would try to form shapes but never to succeed. Suddenly, she felt homesick and she missed her friends…

“What are you doing here?”

If she didn’t have a better hearing than the average, Lucy would have started, having a heart attack. But she simply turned around to see Loki standing right beside her, an angry look on his face. Not wanting to avoid his glare, Lucy put her jacket tighter around her middle before answering “Looking for you.” she replied, bluntly, making Loki raise an eyebrow. His surprised expression was gone in a second though, replaced by a much bitter and suspicious one.

“I understand why you like it here.” she stated instead, looking up at the sky. “Well I think I do. I come here quite frequently as you may have noticed. It’s so calm up here and yet I can hear life going on just below.” She had taken a few steps to put her hands on the railing and she could feel Loki’s eyes on her even if she had her back turned to him. “And I guess, one can truly be themselves here.”

“And you mean growing a tail and be half feline?” Loki suddenly asked, making Lucy grin. Of course he remembered that encounter on that same roof, not so long ago. She turned around to face him, the smile still on her face.

“Yeah. I mean that.” She instantly morphed in that half feline state, her hybrid form as she liked to call it, tail showing behind her and short and soft fur covering her skin. Loki unconsciously stepped closer to her and Lucy unexpectedly fought the urge to shift back at his inquisitive stare. Seeing her sudden discomfort he put his hands on the railing next to her and looked at the city instead.

“Why only shifting here?” Why have you only shifted in front of me? was the silent question. He watched as Lucy drummed her claws on the railing, maybe trying to put words on her thoughts. Now that he had asked her, he was a bit anxious about the answer.

“Why did you left earlier?” she inquired instead, her eyes back on the traffic below, once again surprising him. He shot her a warning glare but soon realized she couldn’t see it.

“You shouldn’t pay too much attention to Tony, especially when he’s drunk. I learned that pretty quickly. He doesn’t think before speaking-”

“I wasn’t just adopted Lucy, the Allfather took me as a relic. Spoils of war. “ Loki snapped, gripping the railing hard.

“War?” the small woman breathed, taking an involuntarily step back. Lucy already knew that Loki had been adopted, and not only because Tony had said it again today. But nobody had told her in which circumstances it had all happened, mostly because neither of the Avengers knew why apart from Thor but somehow, this subject had been labeled as sensitive in her mind. Her brow furrowed when she saw Loki struggling to keep his emotions in check. The god was always the best at not letting his emotions show and seeing him upset was worrying.

“Loki?” she approached him and her eyes searched his. “You don’t seem alright…” she murmured, not sure of what to do.

“Aren’t you just a clever little thing?” he mocked making Lucy flinch. Frustrated, he ran a hand over his raven hair, sighing. “The Frost Giants –a race living in another realm- and the Asgardians were at war not so long ago. Odin and his men fought their king, Laufey and eventually won…” Loki paused, closing his eyes, wondering why he was telling this mortal this. But said mortal waited patiently, not pushing him or anything, instead gingerly putting her hand over his. Gathering all the will power he had left he told her the rest of the story, how after being touched by a Frost Giants he discovered his true origins and then how Odin told him he had discovered him as a baby left to die.

“I was taken to Asgard because Odin thought he could thought he could unite the two kingdoms one day. Bring about an alliance; bring about permanent peace... through me.” Loki repeated Odin’s words.

Lucy frowned, trying to process it all, but couldn’t quite understand it all, it was so confusing. “I-I don’t understand…Thor…” Loki sharply turned around, his green eyes flashing.

“You don’t understand? You don’t UNDERSTAND?” he was now yelling at her, finally losing his temper, making Lucy flinch at the sudden loud voice. “My true father abandoned me and the people I considered my family fed me with lies all my life! I have been taught to despise and hate the Frost Giants, ignoring all this time that I was one of them! That it was my true identity…”

Lucy’s mind was racing, trying to say something, anything to calm Loki and making him feel better but she only gaped. Loki looked at her in disbelief. “Look at me Lucy. Look at me!” he exclaimed, his voice rising once again, but quavery this time. “Who would ever want to be my family? I am the monster parents tell their children about at night!”

Her eyes widened as Loki’s already pale skin became even paler, turning into an ice blue, markings forming on his face and hands. And his eyes changed from deep green to piercing bright red. His eyes found hers, and seeing his distressed expression, her features softened. Past the general and overwhelming surprise, she now looked at him with wonder as if she was in front of Santa Claus or something. For a second, she thought of Kurt, being all blue, but the likeness ended there. Power and potential danger that couldn’t come from Earth emanated from Loki.

Her silence upsetting, Loki fidgeted, shifting weight from one foot to the other. “You’re not frightened or repulsed by it?” he finally asked, scanning her expression. Lucy shook her daze off, quite literally actually.

“Loki…you’re…I-wow.” Lucy put her hands on her cheeks, approaching to stand right in from of the god. “You’re…stunning.”

“Do not mock me.” Loki spat out bitterly, taking a step back and covering his chest unconsciously, as if he wanted to shield himself. Lucy’s hands immediately shot in the air in front of her in a calming gesture, cheeks flushed and eyes worried.

“Loki no, I’m serious.” she said softly. “You were maybe taught to hate what you really were, but I assure you, there are people out there who love you for who you are.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Thor loves you. You are his family and being a Frost Giant won’t change that. And never, ever say you’re a monster. You’ll hear it from the others, don’t make their job easier.”

“Tell yourself you worth something.” Loki whispered.

“What was that?”

“Something you told me when I last saw you here.”

“Well, I was inspired that day.” Lucy replied, smiling at the fact that Loki remembered what she had told him. “You’re worth something and someday, you’ll be part of this family too” she added, pointing at the door with her thumb behind her. “And for the record, you would be one hell of a mutant.” Loki smiled at that, and for Lucy, that was the main thing. Her own smile became nostalgic and her stare grew unfocused.

“You wanted to know why I only shifted here. Well this can be our little secret. But let’s say everyone is not ready for this (she gestured at herself) yet. In a way, I’m protecting myself from the others, even if I know they wouldn’t mind. But I feel like I’m protecting my family. You are all new members of my family.” She turned around and faced him,their eyes locking. “And I would do anything to protect my family, Loki. Anything.”

~

The memory ended there. Sitting straight again on the sofa after letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, Loki rubbed his face with his hand, probably to rub the rest of the memory he had just remembered. The rest of the Avengers were all there. They had landed and had taken Bucky –still unconscious- to the infirmary and were all debating on what to do next. At the thought of the ginger haired woman, Loki’s heart ached. And all this time, the raven haired god was thinking about Lucy’s words that night where she came to find him. “I would do anything to protect my family, Loki. Anything.”. So that’s what she had meant. She had stood up to Bucky in order to protect her mutant friends, nearly getting herself killed, by the talks of Clint. He had come to consider her as a friend over the time, and now she had simply disappeared, leaving them all. Weren’t we her family too?

Oh but the Avengers did such a great job back at the Hydra base, not letting him out of the Quinjet, trying to solve problems on their own. He had felt powerless before and he had sworn he would never feel that way again. He guessed he had broken that promise the moment where he heard the Winter Soldier’s lifeless voice talking to Lucy through the comms. He and Banner had just one part of the discussion in the Quinjet. They all felt betrayed and felt like they had betrayed Lucy. Loki had wanted to kill the broken soldier right away for making Lucy go away but deep down he knew it wasn’t entirely his fault. Even if he wasn’t soft by nature, something must had happened back there to make him behave like that.

The Avengers were loud, probably fighting with each other at this point. The man from another time, the Captain, was seemingly trying to temper the situation but in vain. Loki could not care less, far too occupied by his thoughts.

But that’s when they all heard them, making everyone in the room freeze in horror. Heartbreaking screams of sheer agony coming from the infirmary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo i hope you liked it !  
> Please feel free to leave a comment, good, bad, indifferent (or don't leave a comment, that's up to you) and leave a kudo it really makes my day :)  
> Anyway i hope you guys all have a wonderful holiday season, full of snow (or not. I'm saying that because it doesn't snow here lol), full of joy and love !!!
> 
> P.S: as always i own nothing except for my little mutant and my mistakes :)


	22. How to feel like a total failure 101

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy's and Bucky's POV on how miserable they now are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIIIIIIIVE !!! Guys, guys,...i'm so sorry. Life and major writer's block happened. I just didn't have any inspiration left and even now i'm not satisfied with how this chapter turned out. But hey at least it's here and i haven't forgotten this story don't worry. It will just take longer for me to write and post so updates will be sporadic. And sorry for the mistakes btw.  
> Anyway take this *tosses my chapter into the abyss*  
> Love you guys <3

Her room hasn’t changed a lot since she left the house to live closer to Xavier’s school, more than a year ago. It was only cleaner, meaning less messy. And the sheets were changed into something more neutral than the ones that looked like there had been a rainbow explosion on it accompanied by tumblr pillows full of inspirational quotes supposed to inspire people. Her eyes roamed around the room, noticing the gymnastics medal display on a wall, some trophies on a shelf and a wooden bookcase full of books, some very old that belonged to her mother’s family and some still new that she had yet to read. Slowly she crossed the room, feeling a pang of nostalgia and eventually sat heavily on the comfy window seat.

“Letty, is the door locked?” a muffled masculine voice could be heard behind her closed door –her dad.

“Yes I did it, don’t worry.” her mom answered. They talked a few moments more in hushed tones and Lucy didn’t even try to make out what they were saying. At this point, she couldn’t care less. Finally, she knew her parents decided to go back in their bedroom as a door closed next to hers. She then noticed a familiar picture frame disposed next to her.

 Reaching for it, she flipped it and immediately recognized it: it was a selfie of her in her hybrid form with a Cheshire cat like smile, hugging a radiant Kitty and Kurt holding the phone in one hand, and a soda in the other as Jubilee could be seen just behind them making bright bursts of multi-colored energy fireworks from her hands in the background, as well as some other friends. It had been taken at Kitty’s birthday party at Xavier’s school 3 years ago. “ _Time spent with a cat is never wasted. Luv ya! <3_” was written on a corner in red sharpie.

For yet another time this night, she felt burning tears welling up in her eyes. She quickly pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes, so hard that she saw spots. “You screwed it bad. So bad.” _You’re so good at hurting the ones you love_. She clutched at the photograph against her chest, looking at the moon, her thoughts drifting to the people she hurt, the ones that had given her a home and love. The Avengers.

~

(Avengers Tower)

Sam had seen a lot of stuff and most of it hadn’t been pink and happy. He knew about nightmares, or thought he did, having a lot of them himself, but judging from what Barnes sounded like right now, Sam maybe didn’t know _shit_. The argument the group was having died at the sounds of sheer agony coming from the infirmary.

“What now…” Tony muttered, digging his fingers into his right temple.

“Sargent Barnes seems to be in great pain and distress.” Jarvis spoke up. “Such episode never occurred before.”

Everybody looked at Banner and Steve. “I have to see him.” the blonde said and turning on his heels already. A gentle hand on his arms stopped him.

“Wait. Steve, you can’t do anything for him right now.” Wanda sighed. “I don’t know much about the mutant who was with him but he did something to his mind. I think he has to get it out.”

Clint crossed his arms and looked at Wanda suspiciously. “You mean, like when _he_ was messing with my head ?” he said, pointing at a silent Loki with one thumb.

Said Loki didn’t stay silent. “ _He_ has a name, archer.” Loki slowly got up, the Avengers staring at him, expecting. He loved the feeling of power and importance he had over them at this moment. He waited again a moment before feigning indifference and adding “I believe the Enhanced is right. The soldier will probably calm down on his own.”

Without another word, Steve headed out to the infirmary, quickly followed by Banner, Wanda and Pietro. With a shared look, Clint and Natasha followed too. Tony sat heavily on a sofa nearby, utterly exhausted. Yet the genius knew he won’t be able to sleep. “Hey Point Break wanna give me a hand to get info on Lucy’s friends ?” The god accepted of course and even Sam joined them, leaving Loki to do as he pleased. Deciding he didn’t want to be in the same room as his brother, he headed out the infirmary.

~

Turned out, joining the others to the infirmary hadn’t been that great of a decision. Steve watched helplessly through the bay window of the infirmary as his best friend suffered and screamed, trapped in his own mind, though the soundproof walls prevented him from hearing any of it, now that Jarvis had informed them. Banner had gotten inside a moment before, to check the restraints that hadn’t been removed were still effectively holding him down. Clint and Natasha were beside him, the gingered hair spy’s comforting hand placed on her friend’s shoulder. The doctor was softly talking to them about his condition. When Loki silently approached them in the hallway outside Barne’s room, he spotted the Maximoff leaning against the wall facing the door, away from the others.

“Wanda come on there is nothing we can do here for tonight. You have to sleep.” Pietro was saying to his sister.

“Just go, I’ll be fine I’m coming.” Wanda replied waving her brother off. With a puff, Pietro left her, going past the raven-haired god and shooting him a dark glare along the way. As Loki got closer, he suddenly felt… _pain_ ? Intrigued and upset, he hunched against the wall behind him trying to block these waves of pain, next to Wanda who was scrutinizing him.

“You can feel it too don’t you.” She whispered, her accented voice thinner than she liked.

Loki sharply turned his head toward the smaller woman. _Of course_ , he thought, _she is kind of an empath too_. Her eyes turned red a fleeting second as Loki observed her, and he suddenly became aware of what she was able to do, the others oblivious of their presence.

“We are just experiencing the echoes of his pain.” She closed her eyes, frowning. “Even if I don’t touch him, I can still feel it a little.” And, as if she had read his mind ( _impossible_ he thought, he would have sensed it with his magic), she added “This man went through hell. You can’t put the blame on a victim. He’s not responsible for tonight’s fiasco.”

A few moments later, the group parted ways, to catch a little sleep -if that was even possible at this point-. Steve and Banner were still talking when Wanda followed Clint and Natasha to their floor, not before glancing in Loki’s direction one last time as the elevator doors closed.

~

(Lucy’s home far away somewhere)

She had literally closed her eyes for ten minutes after periodically soaking her tank top with tears and thinking until her head hurt, when she heard a mug shatter downstairs in the kitchen. The brutal noise was followed by a deep masculine voice cursing colorfully and an exasperated “Scott please!” in a feminine voice. _Yep_. _Mom and Dad are awake_.

With a pained groan, she pushed her stiff body up and made a beeline for the bathroom. Opening the bathroom, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and stopped. Her not-so-short hair was a tangled mess of ginger. The Steristrips that covered the deepest cuts on her left cheek and right eyebrow could have made her look like a total badass but with bloodshot and puffy eyes and dark circles under the eyes she looked like the exact opposite. Plus, she had a red mark on the right side of her face and a sore neck from leaning against her window (definitely a bad idea) that didn’t help at all. Pressing her hands on both sides of her face –but not too hard as she didn’t want to reopen the glass cuts- she scrunched her nose at the mirror.

“Ugh. I’m hideous.” She leaned closer to inspect her face, pushing her bangs out of the way. “Way to go Lucy.” She put her two thumbs up at her wrecked reflection. _If Bucky could see me_ \- she sharply straightened up, wanting to slap herself for that thought. _No_. She wasn’t a masochist and refused to let herself drown thinking about him. She couldn’t let herself drown. With more force than necessary she put her bangs back in place, nearly stabbing her eye with her left hand, and tried to tame her mane by brushing her hair but it was easier said than done. Finally she came out of the bathroom, mentally preparing herself to have to speak to her parents downstairs.

Her parents’ chatter grew louder as she went down the stairs, to eventually stop brutally when they noticed her standing in the doorway. For an instant they all stared at each other with eyes like saucers. Her father especially, sitting at the table, looked particularly funny, froze in mid-bite of a waffle as if he had just been caught stealing cookies. Juliette, who was standing behind him near the sink recovered first and warmly smiled at her daughter, taking a step closer. She opened her mouth to say something when she heard her husband mutter “Oh dear what an awkward situation.” Waving off the comment by lightly shoving his arm, her eyes sparkled when she noticed Lucy still standing where she was.

“Good morning Lucy!” she beamed in a singing voice, like a mother who would say ‘wakey wakey’ to her child. “Well? Are you gonna stand there all day long? Come and sit.” At this Lucy shook herself from her stupor and sat next to her dad, who had started eating again.

“Hi dad.” she said simply. Her father answered with a nod, his mouth full.

“Did you manage to sleep?” he asked when he had finished his bite, as Juliette placed a plate of waffles in front of her. Lucy noticed the way he had asked his question, as if he somehow knew that if she had been able to get some sleep, she wouldn’t have slept well anyway. She shook her head, not thinking twice before telling him the truth.

“Not really no.” She grabbed the marmalade. When she caught her dad wanting to say something, she quickly added “but I’m fine don’t worry, I’m fine.” As sadly expected, Scott didn’t buy it for a second. His eyebrows nearly disappeared behind his hairline.

“Honey, you know that’s bullshit right? he snorted, making her frown. “I mean, did you see yourself this morning?” To this, Lucy shot him a look, resisting the urge to say _I did, in fact, thanks for noticing_ when Juliette fake-coughed behind them and came sitting next to her husband with a mug of coffee.

“Did _you_ see yourself in the mirror this morning, _chéri_?” she asked sweetly, looking at Scott from her mug.

“What are you talking about?” He smiled at his wife, his hand smoothing the massive bed head he was sporting.

~

Her father left for the rest of the day, even if this day was a Saturday, with various things he had to take care of in the town before helping a good friend of his with some construction work in his house. Lucy had literally nothing to do so she spent the day in the garden doing stretches, and moping around the house, sometimes helping her mother out with some task or another in the afternoon. Juliette tried her best not to push it and let her daughter take her time with what she was going through. But the thing is, she didn’t know what she was going through. She knew there was more (much more) to the story that Lucy gave them the night before. Currently, she was spread on a sunny area of the living room floor like a lazy cat – and actually there technically was a mountain lion in the living room.

Sighing, she approached her daughter before crouching in front of her. Lucy’s unsettling green eyes opened at last and her ears twitched to inform her mom she was aware of her presence.

“Chérie I don’t know what you’re going through but is there anything I can do for you?” her mother asked, her French accent thickening with worry. “It pains me to see you like this.”

After a moment, the massive cat let its place to a slightly less feline form. Lucy visibly refused to meet her mother’s eyes as she stared at nothing, whispering “Unless you can trace back the time, there’s pretty much nothing you can do.”

To that, Juliette stretched out an arm and gently stroked her ear, as a reassuring way. “Tu nous as beaucoup manqué.” she said softly. Lucy looked at her then, realizing for the first time that she had truly missed her mom speaking French to her. She had missed her parents. “I’m just glad you’re here.”

“Vous m’avez manqué aussi.” Lucy sat up, hugging her mom tightly, making her smile.

~

Later that evening, with her parents long gone sleeping after a busy day, Lucy laid still awake in her bed, desperately fighting sleep, replaying that night’s mission in her mind for the hundredth time. Eventually, her tiredness got the best of her as she drifted off in a dreamless sleep.

~

(Avengers Tower)

As expected, none of them really slept that night. It wasn’t unusual for Tony, who often stayed awake until he literally crashed somewhere in his lab but even him couldn’t help being tired after staying up all night after a mission. At some point, Bucky had exhausted his voice too much to scream and had just passed out early in the morning. Nonetheless, Steve had stayed with him, curled up in one of the other beds. The atmosphere wasn’t for joy in the morning, the avengers coming by small groups in the common area and eating breakfast in silence.

The day was uneventful. Clint spent most of the time in the gym along with Pietro and Natasha. At some point, the redhead had to leave to take care of some spy stuff no one knew about except Fury. Tony had a lot to do since the intangible mutant had severely damaged his suit. The workplace was a mess of tools and robots and heavy metal blasted through the speakers of the room. But the deafening music didn’t stop his thoughts from drifting to the mission, trying to find what caused things to go completely wrong. Along with blueprints and plans of his suit, they were information on Andrew and the other mutants.

In the afternoon, Banner came into the workplace. The billionaire seemingly unaware of his presence, the doctor approached him and ended up waving in front of him, wincing slightly at the sound volume in the room.

“What’s up doc?” Tony stopped the music to turn towards his friend.

“You look awful.” Bruce said simply, before eyeing the dismembered suit in front of him. At the dead look Tony shot him, he awkwardly cleared his throat. “So, did you find something new?”

“Well, the suited weirdos we had the chance to meet yesterday are, as you know, from Xavier.” He turned towards the screen and extended the page in the room with his fingers. “Jarvis managed to activate the camera while the suit was giving upon me. But otherwise, we have nothing on them.”

“Nothing?” Banner frowned at the grainy footage of the girl floating in the air.

“Nope. Shield has nothing since they are not in the Index.” He sighed. “Xavier is doing a great job protecting their identities.”

“I don’t blame these people for doing what they do. I mean, I wouldn’t have liked to be registered in the Index as a massive threat if it didn’t come with working with Shield.” Tony looked up at him at that, opening his mouth to say something before the doctor cut him. “We didn’t tell her what we were going to do with the mutants, but she knew already. And I bet she didn’t like it.”

“We are just trying to do our jobs Bruce. Trying to keep everyone safe.” Tony said tiredly. Silence fell for a moment, none of them trying to break it.

“Were you planning on registering her too eventually?” Bruce finally spoke.

After a few seconds Tony replied. “She was…is our friend and knowing her she would have probably punched someone.”

As if reading his thoughts Banner said “She had contacts with Xavier’s school from the beginning but you can’t blame her for keeping this for herself. She was simply protecting her and her friends from Shield.”

“From us.” Tony said darkly. “She didn’t trust us enough.”

Pausing, the doctor looked at him right in the eye. “Did we?”

~

Damn, it hurt to be conscious. It was coming back to him slowly, and he was progressively aware of his surroundings. First, the stinging in his right arm and the pounding of his head. Then, the softness under him informed him that he was laying down on a bed. As he was coming back to himself the sounds of various machines became louder and clearer. Finally, after endless seconds, he slowly opened his eyes. Only to quickly shut them again, groaning. _Fucking light…_

After a moment he tried to open his eyes again. _Ok I’m not fucking blinded anymore_. As he went to rub his face with his left hand though, he found out he couldn’t move it.

“What the…” his voice was hoarse for some reason and Bucky coughed himself wide awake. The noise must have alerted someone as a movement on his right caught his eye. His head snapped in direction of the intruder and his muscles tensed despite the protest of his pounding head.

“Hey, it’s alright Buck” Steve stopped dead in his tracks, hands flying in front of him in a calming sort of way. “It’s just me.” Relieved, Bucky slumped back on his pillows with a wince. “How do you feel?”

“Like my brain turned into jelly.” The brunette rasped. Looking at the restraints he added “What the hell with my arm Steve.”

“We had to errr restrain you at some point” Steve said awkwardly, approaching his friend’s bed. “You were pretty violent and you could have hurt yourself or someone…” The blond removed the straps, eyes cast downwards and missing Bucky’s reaction.

“What happened?” Bucky’s voice was tensed. At the look on the Captain’s face, he knew something was wrong. “Where’s Lucy?”

Steve sighed. _This won’t be easy._ “Buck, do you remember anything from two days ago?” A blank stare met his question. _I’ve been out for two days?_ Bucky frowned, trying to remember the last events. His headache began to worsen as he focused on his jumbled memories. It came to him like a flood, a dam in his mind breaking and letting flow sounds and flashes of images. _Him shocking Andrew, indistinct yet loud sounds in his earpiece, his sudden rage and fear, his fight with the blue mutant, Lucy screaming…_

“Oh my God…did I hurt someone?” Bucky

“Not for lack of trying.” Hurt and guilt crossed Bucky’s face and Steve could have slapped himself for his poor choice of words. “Nobody on our side was hurt.”

“I…” Suddenly, Bucky doubled over, dissolving into a coughing fit. A glass of water appeared in his peripheral vision and he greedily drank, the coolness soothing his scratchy throat. “I remember that Andrew guy…and then I just lost it.” He frowned, looking at his lap.

“It wasn’t you. He played with your fears and doubts and made them real for you. Wanda told us he somehow got a hold of your unconscious thoughts, much like she does when she reads minds.” Steve explained, feeling a bit lost himself but trying to comfort his friend. “You would never react the way you did, he triggered it.”

Digging his fingers in his temples Bucky let out an angered growl, and Steve saw the plates of his metal arm shift with that familiar buzzing sound. If he wasn’t paying attention to him, Steve would have probably missed the despaired whisper coming out of Bucky.  “I’m sick of people messing with my brain Steve. Fucking _sick_ of it.” _And I screwed up the mission and Lucy’s gone because of me._

At least , the total fiasco at the Hydra compound proved something: he wasn’t safe to be around, he’ll probably never be and letting people close was a terrible mistake. Someone always gets hurt. Monsters and broken people deserve to be alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it, things will get worse before getting better (gotta love the angst. I'm so cruel poor Bucky and Lucy) please leave a kudo and/or a comment (really makes me smile btw)  
> Stay beautiful people you rock  
> See ya


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